Editorial Board

Editorial Team
To contact members of the team please email bmcmedicineeditorial@biomedcentral.com

Chief Editor

Lin Lee, DPhil, Springer Nature, London, UK
Lin joined BMC Medicine in late 2010 starting as Assistant Editor, having previously completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford using fruit flies to model the neurodegenerative disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy. She has interests in global health and policy, and non-communicable diseases. 

 

 

Senior Editors

Derek Anane, PhD, Springer Nature, London, UK
Derek joined BMC Medicine in March 2022 having previously been a Senior Editor on The Lancet journal eClinicalMedicine. Prior to joining BMC Medicine he was also a Senior Editor on the BMC Series of journals. He received his PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from UCL in 2012 working on the ways in which WNT proteins can mediate, control and regulate both the formation and growth of synapses in the memory centres of the brain. He also holds an MSC in the molecular biology and pathology of viruses from Imperial College and has an interest in neurology, Infectious diseases and public health. 

 

 

Ciarán Fitzpatrick, PhD, Springer Nature, London, UK
Ciarán is Senior Editor covering the cardiology, psychiatry, and rheumatology sections. Trained a neuroscientist with a PhD in Psychopharmacology from University of Copenhagen, he publishes on test models of psychiatric disorders. Originally a BMC Series Editor on clinical medicine titles that championed endocrinology, musculoskeletal and sports science. Nowadays, his editorial passions are open, robust science, and involving patients and the public in the research journey

 

Associate Editors

Diana Corogeanu, PhD, Springer Nature, London, UK
Diana joined the editorial team of BMC Medicine in 2024. She completed her PhD at King’s College London investigating targeted delivery of Toll-like receptor agonists to the tumour tissue to promote immune activation and brings a wealth of clinical experience in general internal medicine from working as doctor for the NHS. Her main interests are robust, inclusive and people-centred research. Diana takes care of the oncology and endocrinology sections of the journal. 

 

 

 

Yonghong Ding, PhD, SpringerNature, Shanghai, China

Yonghong joined BMC Medicine in May 2024, after serving as a locum editor for BMC Cancer and BMC Palliative Care for nine months. He holds a Master’s and PhD in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Biochemistry from the University of Leipzig, followed by postdoctoral research as a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen. During his time there, he developed a rapid magnetic resonance-based assay for tumor imaging in mice. Prior to joining the BMC Series, Yonghong worked as an analytical chemist at a cancer therapeutics company in Shanghai. Passionate about open-access research, he is committed to bridging knowledge disparities and making science accessible to wider audiences. 

 

 

 

 

Giovanna del Vecchio, PhD, Springer Nature, Berlin, Germany
Giovanna studied medical biotechnology at the University of Bologna in Italy, where she also obtained a PhD in neurobiology, with a focus on cellular and molecular regenerative approaches to CNS diseases. In 2010, she moved to Berlin and worked on drug discovery and molecular characterization of CNS diseases and pain relief, first at the FMP Institute and then at the Charité University Hospital. In 2018, she transitioned to the industrial sector while following her interest in the development of innovative solutions for life sciences and health. In her most recent professional role, she contributed with enthusiasm to the development of scalable technologies for digital health and preventive medicine. She values and commits to a culture of data sharing and openly accessible scientific communication, especially when these impact the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases and the quality of healthcare. Giovanna joined BMC as an Editor in late 2022. 

 

 

Jing Yuan, PhD, Springer Nature, Shanghai, China
Jing joined Springer Nature in 2023, where she led a team for Collections management for the Springer Discover journals before transitioning to BMC Medicine in 2024. She holds a PhD in Otolaryngology from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, with a research background in neuroscience, neurology, and neuro-otology, specifically focusing on neurodegenerative diseases. Jing has experience in developing risk prediction models and conducting epidemiological analyses. During her time at Case Western Reserve University in the United States, she further studied the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind hereditary and age-related auditory disorders. She is enthusiastic about editing articles that contribute to precision and patient-centered medicine for improved clinical outcomes.

 

 

 

Editorial Board Members

Cardiovascular
 

Fares Al-Ahdab, MD, MSc, Houston Methodist Academic Institute, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Global burden of cardiovascular disease, machine learning, preventive cardiology, nuclear cardiology, systematic review, meta-analysis, echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography angiography
Dr. Fares Al-Ahdab is a physician-scientist with expertise in the areas of research methods and epidemiology, bioinformatics and machine learning, preventive cardiology and nuclear cardiology, along with his long-time research work in the areas of evidence-based medicine, evidence synthesis (systematic reviews and meta-analyses), clinical guidelines and clinical guidelines development. He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed scientific publications including clinical guidelines and authoritative papers, in top-tier journals including The Lancet, BMJ, JAMA, JACC, among others. He has long served as a referee for top journals also, including The Lancet, BMJ, many BMC journals, among others, and an senior/associate editor with several peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Alahdab enjoys medical education and mentorship (on both ends of the transaction) and is an avid reader of nonfiction books. Webpage.

Anping Cai, MD, PhD, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, China
ORCID
Research interests: Hypertension, heart failure, health disparities
Anping Cai (MD PhD) is currently a cardiologist in Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital and Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute. He is interested in the use of data from population-based study to evaluate the prevalence and potential modifiable risk factors of hypertension and heart failure. In addition, he is also interested in studying the factors related to health disparities. His current research is focused on the burden of hypertension and related cardiovascular disease in the community; and using cardiovascular imaging and plasma biomarker to timely identify people with hypertension who are at high risk of developing cardiovascular events. In addition, his research is also focused on management and outcomes in hospitalized patients with heart failure from registry study, aiming to identify prognostic factors that can be intervened so as to improve the outcomes for these population groups. Furthermore, Dr. Cai is also very interested in health disparities incurred by socioeconomic status and sex/gender. Webpage.

 

Gaojun Cai, MD, Changzhou Wujin People's Hospital, China
ORCID
Research interests: Coronary artery disease, cardiovascular intervention, hypercholesterolemia, familial hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, system review and meta-analysis
Gaojun Cai (MD) has worked as a cardiologist in Changzhou Wujin People's Hospital nearly 20 years. He received his M.D. degree in Cardiovascular Medicine from Capital Medical University, focusing on the dyslipidemia and the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease under the guidance of Professor Yujie Zhou in 2021. Dr Cai was awarded as Jiangsu Youth Medical Talents Project in 2016 and Changzhou High-Level Medical Talents Training Project in 2022. He is interested in the use of data from hospital-based study to evaluate the association between dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease, especially the familial hypercholesterolemia. Recently, he also focus on the efficacy and safety of coronary intervention via distal transradial Access. He has published more than 70 academic papers (first or corresponding author) in national and international journals, and serves as editorial board member of some scientific journals including Lipids in Health and Disease and BMC Cardiovascular Disorders.

 

Tao Chen, PhD, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, clinical trial, medical statistics, trial-based or model-based health economics evaluation, clinical epidemiology, system review and meta-analysis
Tao Chen earned his first degree in medicine (2006), followed by MSc (2009) and PhD (2012) in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Peking Union Medical College. He joined the Centre for Health Economics at University of York from Nov 2022. Prior to his role at York, he worked at University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropic Medicine, King’s College London and Nanjing Medical University in China.His research includes: 1) the trial based or model-based economic evaluation. 2) Statistical issues in design, analysis and reporting in clinical trials for medical and public health problems. 3) Disease modelling to assess the clinical and cost impacts from breakthrough trials or health policies locally and globally 4) Epidemiological study in non-communicable diseases, particularly in cardiometabolic diseases. Webpage.

 

Jun Dai, MSc, MD, PhD, Des Moines University, United States
ORCID
Research interests: Cardiovascular epidemiology, Epigenetic epidemiology, Nutrition epidemiology, Molecular epidemiology, Clinical epidemiology, Cardiometabolic diseases/disorders (coronary artery disease, total cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, subclinical atherosclerosis, glucose hemostasis, lipid metabolism), Biomarkers, epigenetics (microRNA, methylation, hydroxymethylation), Lifespan environmental factors (diet, nutritional factors, alcohol, psychological, etc.), Experimental study, Clinical trial, Twin study, Population observational studies (cross-sectional, longitudinal, nested case-control, case-control studies), Mendelian randomization, Literature review
Dr. Jun Dai is a professor at the Department of Public Health, Des Moines University College of Health Sciences. She received her MD and MSc at Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, People’s Republic of China (PRC), and PhD at Emory University, the U.S. She was a faculty member at Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences in PRC and the Indiana University-Bloomington and the Division of Epidemiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the U.S. She received the Sandra Daugherty Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Disease or Hypertension Epidemiology and the Jeremiah and Rose Stamler Research Award for New Investigators from the American Heart Association. Her research has been supported by the American Heart Association and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. She authored and coauthored original research papers in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Circulation, Circulation - Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, British Journal of Nutrition, International Journal of Cardiology, Genes (Basel), Behavior Genetics, Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis Vascular Biology, Biological Psychiatry, etc. Dr. Dai’s recent overarching research aims to understand the environmental, epigenetic, and genetic role in and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cardiovascular diseases and cardiometabolic diseases and disorders. Webpage.

 

Chengming Fan, MD, PhD, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Clinic practice, cardiovascular surgery, treatment of ischemic heart disease with human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)-related strategy and with preclinical animal models
Dr. Chengming Fan was featured in the list of Most Active Scholars in Global Cardiovascular Surgery Research in 2021. Dr. Fan's research has received support from grants provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Hunan Provincial Excellent Youth Science Foundation, and the Hunan Provincial Excellent Postdoctoral Foundation. He has authored over 50 academic papers in national and international journals, boasting an H-index of 14. Webpage.

 

Min Gao, PhD, University of Oxford, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Diet, health behaviour, cohort study, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental illness, health behaviour, obesity, cardiometabolism, BMI, biobank
Dr Gao is an epidemiologist and health behaviour scientist at University of Oxford. Dr Gao has a particular interest in understanding how health behaviours and obesity impact cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health, etc. Dr Gao is experienced in analysing longitudinal data, primary care datasets across behavioural science and health policy. In the meantime, Dr Gao has conducted several systematic reviews and several clinical trials to help patients manage their weight and health behaviours. Webpage. 

 

Frederick Ho, PhD, University of Glasgow, UK
ORCID
Research interests: epidemiology, statistics, cardiovascular, public health
Dr Frederick Ho is a Lecturer in Public Health at the School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow. He received formal training in statistics (BSc Statistics, Chinese University of Hong Kong) and epidemiology (PhD, University of Hong Kong). He has extensive experience working with complex big data, including the Scottish and English primary care, hospital, and death records, national health surveys, and the UK Biobank. His research attempts to uncover the neglected complexity in exposure-outcome associations, such as their nonlinearity, mechanisms, and interactions. He has been the referee for top funders and journals, such as the British Heart Foundation, World Cancer Research Fund, Swiss National Science Foundation, the Lancet, and BMJ. Webpage.

 

Samira Lakhal-Littleton, Bsc, DPhil, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Research interests: iron, anemia, heart failure, hepcidin
Prof Samira Lakhal-Littleton is a translational scientist focused on the role of iron in the cardiovascular system. She is currently Professor of Physiology and MRC Senior Research Fellow at University of Oxford. After completing her DPhil at Oxford in 2007, she joined the laboratory of Prof Sir Peter Ratcliffe, where she discovered intersections between iron and hypoxia signaling. She then secured a BHF Intermediate Research Fellowship, which allowed her to discover the mechanisms and physiological importance of local iron control in the cardiovascular system. She is now focused on translating her discoveries into the clinic. She is member of the Royal Society Research Grants Board and UKRI Interdisciplinary Assessment College, and regularly reviews grants for the British Heart Foundation, Medical Research Council, and National Institute of Health. Samira has received many awards, most recently the Physiological Society's Bayliss Starling Prize Lecture. In 2019, she was elected to the board of directors of the International BioIron Society. Webpage

Matteo Landolfo, Dr. med., Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Politecnica delle Marche University, Ancona, Italy, Italia
Research interests: Cardiovascular risk, Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular pharmacology, Hypertension, metabolic syndrome, obesity, Natriuretic peptides, Cardiac ultrasound
I am a dedicated researcher and physician specialised in Internal Medicine, with a strong focus on cardiovascular diseases, geriatrics, and metabolic disorders. Currently, I serve as a Research Fellow at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, and as a Medical Doctor at IRCCS – INRCA, Clinica Medica e Geriatrica, Ancona, Italy. Webpage

Abeer Mohamed, MD, PhD, University of Illinois Chicago, United States
Research Interests: Obesity; Diabetes; Cardiovascular Disease; Vascular Dysfunction; Atherosclerosis; Adipose tissue; Hormones; Hormone-related Cancer; Racial Disparity; Molecular Biology; Translational/clinical research; clinical trials; Vascular biology and measurements including vascular reactivity and echocardiography; Ex vivo vessel isolation, cannulation, and measuring vasoreactivity (from humans and rodents); Ultrasound imaging of macro and microvessels; Ultrasound imaging and 3D construction or renal microvasculature; Ultrasound imaging of the liver; Epigenetics; Extracellular vesicle isolation and characterization
Dr. Abeer Mohamed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism (College of Medicine, UIC). She received her MD degree and residency training as a Pathologist from Assiut University, Egypt. She served as a surgical/clinical pathologist at South Egypt Cancer Institute (2002-2008), before realizing her true passion was in biomedical research. She earned her Ph.D. in Pathology (College of Medicine, UIC, 2013) where she studied chemoprevention in prostate cancer. For her postdoctoral research (College of Applied Health Sciences, UIC, 2013-2017), she studied physiological and molecular outcomes of lifestyle interventions at the metabolic and vascular levels. She is currently funded by NIH/NHLBI-K99 “DNA Methylation and Vascular Function in Obesity: Role of Exercise and Weight Loss” to study blood and tissue DNA methylation profiles among those who are morbidly obese and the impact of these profiles on metabolic and vascular functions. She is also funded by the NIDDK/NIH-sponsored Diabetes Research and Training Center to study the role of adipocyte-derived extracellular vesicles in diabetes-associate endothelial dysfunction and by University of Illinois’ Cancer Center to study the role of adipose tissue-derived extracellular vesicles in promoting breast cancer metastasis. Dr. Mohamed’s long-term goal is to identify clinically relevant epigenetic mechanisms to help mitigate the increased risk of obesity co-morbidities. Webpage.

 

Surapon Nochaiwong, PharmD, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
ORCID
Research Interests: Clinical Epidemiology, Pharmacoepidemiology, Patient-Reported Outcomes, Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis and Evidence-Based Synthesis
Surapon Nochaiwong holds the academic staff position in the Department of Pharmaceutical Care, Faculty of Pharmacy, and is the founding Head of the Pharmacoepidemiology and Statistics Research Center (PESRC) at Chiang Mai University, Thailand.Since joining the academic staff of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University in 2012, Nochaiwong has served as an established researcher and principal investigator on more than 20 extramurally local and nationally funded grants and published more than 50 academic papers and has 1,500 or more citations in the international scientific community. His research activities and expertise are related to clinical research in the broad field of nephrology and dermatology, with a particular focus on evidence-based synthesis, comparative effectiveness research, and patient-reported outcomes among dialysis and chronic inflammatory skin diseases. Moreover, he also focuses on the impact of emerging diseases on public health, including COVID-19 and adverse mental health outcomes. Website.

Cesare Patrone, PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden​​​​​​
Research Interests: stroke, diabetes, preclinical, basic research, translational research, diabetes drugs
Cesare Patrone, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Karolinska Intitutet, Stockholm, Sweden. After he completed his PhD studies in neuropharmacology and neuroendocrinology in 1998 at Milano University, Italy, he worked as post-doctoral fellow at Uppsala University and at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. He subsequently worked for 9 years in the biotechnology industry focusing his research on neural stem cells transplantation and pharmacological stimulation for the treatment of neurological disorders. He then returned to Academia at the Karolinska Institutet in 2008 and since then he has focused his research on the central neurological complications of diabetes, with special focus on stroke. He has published original research papers in prestigious journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Cardiovascular Diabetology, Diabetes Obesity &Metabolism, the British Journal of Pharmacology and Diabetes. Website.

Giulio Francesco Romiti, MD, Sapienza - University of Rome, Italy
ORCID
Research interests: Cardiovascular Diseases; Atrial Fibrillation; Epidemiology; Systematic Review
Dr. Giulio Francesco Romiti is a Medical Doctor from Rome, Italy, where he obtained his medical degree at Sapienza - University of Rome. His research activities and expertise are related to clinical research in the broad field of cardiovascular disease, with a particular focus on atrial fibrillation. His research interests also include evidence synthesis. He also serves as a peer reviewer for several medical journals. Webpage. 

 

Gaetano Santulli, MD, PhD, FAHA, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Coronary artery disease, hypertension, cardiometabolic, cardiac arrhythmia, biomarkers, cardiac remodelling, blood pressure
Gaetano Santulli, MD, PhD is currently working at Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Montefiore University Hospital. A physician-scientist, he received his MD and PhD at the University of Naples “Federico II”. He completed his postdoctoral training at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, fully supported by the American Heart Association (postdoctoral fellowship and Scientist Development Grant). Dr. Santulli’s expertise comprises both clinical – he is a cardiologist - and basic research topics, including hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, arrhythmias, vascular disease, microRNA, and mitochondrial pathophysiology. Webpage.

 

Alessandro Spirito, MD, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland
ORCID
Research interests: Atherosclerosis, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary arterty bypass grafting, coronary artery disease, ischemic heart disease, antiplatelet therapy, oral anticoagulation
Alessandro Spirito, MD is currently working at Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland. He received his MD at the University of Genoa, Italy. He completed his postdoctoral training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Bern University Hospital, Switzerland. He spent 2 years as research fellow in interventional cardiology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, fully supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Dr. Spirito’s clinical activity comprises general and interventional cardiology and his research expertise focuses on ischemic heart disease, percutaneous coronary intervention and antiplatelet therapy. Webpage.

Naveen Anand Seecheran, MSc, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
Research interests: Platelet Biology, Thrombosis, Antiplatelet Therapies, Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology
Dr. Naveen Seecheran is currently an American Board of Internal Medicine certified Interventional Cardiologist and Clinical Lead of the Cardiac Cath Lab at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.His postgraduate training included being a Chief Interventional and Structural Fellow at the University of Vermont Medical Center and Chief Medical Resident at the University of Florida. He also completed a Masters in Clinical Trials at the University of London.Currently, he is a Tenured Senior Lecturer in Adult Medicine at his alma mater, the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. He has over 60 publications in several prestigious cardiology journals such as the JACC, JACC Interventions, Circulation Interventions, Thrombosis, and Heart. He is on the Editorial Board of Cardiology and Therapy and Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine.He has also been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Royal College of Physicians, American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, European Society of Cardiology, and Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions. Webpage

Navin Suthahar, MD, MSc, PhD, Erasmus MC, The Netherlands
ORCID
Research interests: Heart Failure, Biomarkers, Natriuretic Peptides, IGFBP7, Sex-based differences, Obesity, Cardio-oncology
Dr. Navin Suthahar completed his medical degree (MD) in 2008, and holds a postgraduate diploma (PgDip) in Cardiology and in Respiratory Medicine, as well as a masters (MSc) in Preventive Cardiology. His doctoral thesis in Cardiology (PhD) focused on novel aspects of heart failure biomarkers, including the overlapping effects of sex and fat distribution. He currently works as a scientist at the department of Cardiology in Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam (Netherlands) and has authored over 50 research items (H-index 17; i10-index 21). His expertise is on sex-specific aspects of heart failure (HFpEF and HFrEF) and in epidemiological aspects of cardio-oncology. Among biomarkers related to cardiovascular disease, he focuses on cardiac-specific markers (to improve heart failure diagnosis), markers related to ageing and senescence (to identify novel therapeutic targets in HFpEF / CVD), and on secreted factors in obesity. Webpage.

Xiaoqiang Tang, PhD, Sichuan University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Cardiovascular biology Heart Failure, Cardiac Remodeling, Ischemia, Vascular Biology, Aging, Metabolism, Epigenetics, Fibrosis, cardiac hypertrophy, cellular senescence
Dr. Xiaoqiang Tang received his Ph.D. degree at Peking Union Medical College, where he studied cardiac hypertrophy with his mentor Prof De-Pei Liu. In 2017, Dr. Tang joined West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University and he is currently an Associate Professor and Hundred Person Project Scholar. Dr. Tang is also the Associate Editor of Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, Frontiers in Endocrinology, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, Editorial Board of Heliyon and BMC Cardiovascular Medicine, and TRAging. He has been the reviewer of over 30 peer-reviewed journals, including Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, Clinical Science, Aging and Disease. Dr. Tang focuses on the pathology of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, cardiac hypertrophy, and vascular diseases. Especially, Dr.Tang studied epigenetics, metabolism, and niche mechanisms underlying cardiovascular aging and diseases. He is the author or co-author of many scientific articles, including Circulation, European Heart Journal, Science Translational Medicine, Circulation Research, Journal of Experimental Medicine, and Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. His articles have received over 2000 citations. Webpage. 

Guo-Wei Tu, MD, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, China
ORCID
Research interests: ICU, Mechanical Ventilation, Respiratory Physiology, Critical Care Medicine, Intensive Care Medicine, Sepsis, Hemodynamics
Dr. Guo-Wei Tu received his MD Degree in Medicine at Fudan University, China. He is the Professor of cardiac surgery intensive care unit of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, China. In 2016, he was awarded with the Chinese Young Investigator Award for the research in critical care medicine. Dr Tu was awarded as Excellent Academic Leader of Shanghai and Top Young Talent of Shanghai in 2020. He has published more than 60 articles (first or corresponding author) in SCI-indexed journals and serves as guest editor and editorial board member of many scientific journals including Annals of Translational Medicine, BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, Cardiology Research and Practice et al. Webpage.

Hideki Uosaki, MD, PhD, Jichi Medical University, Japan
ORCID
Research interests: iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes, cardiomyopathy disease modeling, gene therapy, genome editing, transcriptome analysis, cardiomyocyte physiology, mitochondrial function
Hideki Uosaki, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at Jichi Medical University. He joined the Center for Molecular Medicine at Jichi Medical University, after completing postdoctoral training in heart development and cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2016). He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Hokkaido University (2004) and Kyoto University (2011), respectively. He is primarily focusing on deciphering the molecular mechanisms and finding treatment for cardiomyopathy. His research includes 1) iPS cell-based disease models, 2) animal models created with genome editing, 3) gene therapy (adeno-associated virus), and 4) transcriptome analysis. Webpage.

Bo Xi, MD, Shandong University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Obesity, Hypertension, Cardiovascular disease, Lifestlyle, Tobacco, Children, Women
Dr. Bo Xi is a professor at the School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University. He is the director of Children Cardiovascular Research Center of Shandong University. He is the winner of National Science Foundation for Outstanding Youth in 2017 and the winner of the 15th China Youth Science and Technology Award in 2018. His research mainly focuses on epidemiology of childhood obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular risk factors. He has presided over 5 national projects. He has published over 50 English papers, including papers on BMJ, Circulation, JACC, Diabetes Care and Lancet Global Health. Dr. Bo Xi currently serves as the member of the National Expert Committee on cardiovascular diseases, the member of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association-Childhood Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, the youth member of the Epidemiology Branch of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, and the corresponding editor of the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology. Dr. Xi is also the peer reviewer of several international top journals including BMJ, Ann Intern Med, JACC, and Lancet Public Health. Webpage.

Junjie Xiao, PhD, Shanghai University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Cardiovascular diseases; Heart failure; Cardiac Hypertrophy; Myocardial infarction; Exercise training; Biomarker; Extracellular vesicles; Non-coding RNAs
Junjie Xiao is currently a Professor at Shanghai University. He is the Vice Dean of Medical School and also the Vice Dean of School of Life Science at Shanghai University. He obtained the National Science Foundation for Outstanding Youth in 2017. He is also the Associate Editor of Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research, Editorial Board of Journal of Sport and Health Science, Social Media Editor of Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, etc. He is the author or co-author of many scientific articles, including Circulation, Circulation Research, Cell Metabolism, Nature Communications, Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, and BMC Medicine. He has been the reviewer of Physiological Reviews, Circulation Research, Cell Reports Medicine, Hypertension, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Molecular Therapy, etc. He obtained 2018 and 2019 Peer Review Awards (Top 1% in Field, Publons). His major research interest is heart failure and exercise training, especially using exercise as a platform to identify novel targets for enhancing cardiac regeneration and combating cardiovascular diseases. Webpage.

Shiu Lun Ryan Au Yeung, PhD, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
ORCID
Research interests: Cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, Mendelian randomization, alcohol, epidemiology
Ryan Au Yeung (MPH (HKU), PhD (HKU)) is currently an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong. He is interested in the use of Mendelian randomization to identify causes and consequences of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, and to explore drug reposition opportunities. His earlier research focused on exploring the causal role of alcohol in cardiovascular diseases and mental health using ALDH2 polymorphism in a Southern Chinese Biobank (Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study). His recent work involves the use of UK Biobank and summary statistics from genome wide association studies to explore pleiotropic effects of commonly prescribed medications in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes (e.g. metformin). With the COVID-19 pandemic, he is also using Mendelian randomization to explore determinants (e.g. glycaemic traits) contributing to COVID-19 susceptibility. Ryan Au Yeung is currently one of the academic leads of the “Children of 1997” birth cohort in Hong Kong, where he is responsible for curating the genomic and metabolomic data. Webpage. 

Hongsong Zhang, PhD, Nanjing Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Atherosclerosis, vascular calcification, heart failure, endothelial function, coronary artery disease, vascular biology, cardio-metabolomics, CVD epigenetics
Dr. Hongsong Zhang obtained his PhD degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests focus on endothelial function in atherosclerosis, vascular calcification and diabetes. At present, he has published SCI-indexed articles as the first or corresponding author in top journals including Circulation Research, Cardiovascular Research and American Journal of Human Genetics. He has presided multiple projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He is currently the academic member of Chinese Association of Pathophysiology. He was awarded Paul Dudley White International Scholar by American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Hongsong Zhang is currently the Junior Editor Board Member of Aging and Disease, Journal of Genetics and Genomics and Journal of Translational Internal Medicine, Guest Editor of Journal of Clinical Medicine and Frontiers in Genetics, as well as the reviewer of many SCI-indexed journals including Canadian Journal of Cardiology, Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine and Journal of General Internal Medicine. Webpage.

Jie Jane Zhao, PhD, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
ORCID
Research interests: nutrition; antihypertensive drugs; Mendelian randomization; non-communicable chronic diseases
With trainings in medical science, nutrition and epidemiology, my broad research interest is to understand the aetiology of non-communicable chronic diseases, as well as identifying modifiable targets for prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. I have been interested in the effect of endocrine factors in chronic diseases, such as the role of sex hormone binding globulin and testosterone in chronic kidney disease (published in JASN 2021 and BMC Medicine 2020, the latter selected as featured article of that issue). I’m also working on the role of dietary factors and medications, such as antihypertensive drugs, as potential targets for prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, with 50 publications in area-leading journals such as American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, BMC Medicine, BMJ, Diabetologia, and Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
In my research, I applied several study designs, including randomized controlled trial, cohort studies, as well as Mendelian randomization which uses genetic variants as instruments to minimize confounding. I also chaired a randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of intervention and the underlying mechanisms. I’m always open to collaborations in projects relevant to public health and clinical practice, and would like to serve the scientific community. Currently, I’m reviewer for Nature Ageing, BMJ, Diabetes Care, BMC Medicine, International Journal of Epidemiology, JAHA, British Journal of Cancer, Kidney International et al. Webpage. 

Changcheng Zhou, MS, PhD, University of California, Riverside, United States
ORCID
Research interests: Atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia, epigenetic inheritance, inflammation, obesity, small non-coding RNAs, endocrine disrupting chemicals, nuclear receptors
 Dr. Changcheng Zhou is a Professor at the University of California, Riverside.  He received Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine and performed postdoctoral work at the University of Washington and the Rockefeller University.  Before joining the University of California, Riverside as a professor of biomedical sciences, he was a faculty member and the director of Center for Metabolic Disease Research at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Zhou is an elected Fellow of American Heart Association (FAHA) and has served on the NIH study section as a chartered member.  The main research interest of Dr. Zhou’s laboratory is to investigate the molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis and metabolic disorders. Webpage. 

Endocrinology and Metabolism
 

Ling-Wei Chen, PhD, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
ORCID
Research interests: Nutritional epidemiology, diet, dietary pattern, chrono-nutrition, DOHaD
Dr. Ling-Wei Chen is a nutritional epidemiologist with a keen interest in the Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases (DOHaD). He earned his PhD degree from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore (NUS; Singapore) and has held postdoctoral research positions at several institutions including the NUS School of Medicine, University College Dublin (UCD; Ireland), and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR; Singapore). Currently, he holds an Assistant Professorship at the Master of Public Health Program and the Institute of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at National Taiwan University College of Public Health (Taiwan). Dr. Chen has published extensively in top international journals such as BMC Medicine, PLOS Medicine, and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He is also a respected referee for academic journals and funding agencies, including the Medical Research Council (MRC; UK), Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; Portugal), and Austrian Science Fund (FWF; Austria). Dr. Chen's contributions to the field of nutritional epidemiology and DOHaD have been recognized through various travel awards at prominent international conferences, such as the Early Career Travel Grants in conjunction with the 22nd IUNS International Congress of Nutrition and the DOHaD Society Travel Awards in conjunction with the 11th DOHaD World Congress. Webpage. 

Sifan Chen, MD, PhD, Sun Yat-sen University, China
ORCID
Research interests: diabetes; gut microbiota; obesity; MAFLD; cardiovascular diseases
Sifan Chen, currently working at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University as professor. He gained the PhD from University of Heidelberg and worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Boston Children's Hospital affiliated to Harvard Medical School. He is the recipient of the National Natural Science Foundation for Outstanding Youth Scholars and Guangdong Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists. Dr. Chen mainly focuses on molecular mechanism and drug pre-development of type 2 diabetes and its complications. In the past years, a number of papers listed him as corresponding author or first author have been published in prestigious journals including Cell metabolism, Molecular cell, Signal Transduct Target Ther, Nature Communications, and The FASEB journal, etc. Webpage.

Johanna DiStefano, PhD, Translational Genomics Research Institute, United States
Research interests: MASLD and MASH with a focus on pediatric, menopausal, and normal weight populations, hepatic dysfunction attributable to environmental factors, T2D, extracellular vesicles, genetics, genomics, epigenetics
Johanna DiStefano, PhD, is a Professor and Head of the Metabolic Disease Research Unit at the Translational Genomics Research Institute. Her interdisciplinary research program focuses on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), type 2 diabetes, and obesity, with an emphasis on genetic, epigenetic, and omics approaches to identify molecular drivers of disease progression. She explores the role of extracellular vesicles as biomarkers and mediators of steatotic liver disease, particularly in populations such as children, postmenopausal women, and individuals with normal weight. By integrating insights from diverse fields, her work aims to develop innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for metabolic diseases. Webpage.

 

Yuanqing Fu, PhD, Westlake University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Precision nutrition, gut microbiome, nutritional epidemiology, public health nutrition
Yuanqing Fu is a research associate professor at Westlake University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in nutrition from Zhejiang University in 2015. His research mainly focuses on investigating the interactions between diet, gut microbiome, and host genetics in the development of metabolic disorders such as dyslipidemia, cancer, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. To explore these relationships, he employs data derived from multiple omics disciplines, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and metagenomics. Additionally, he is also interested in developing experimental designs for precision nutrition, such as n-of-1 trials, and elucidating the involvement of gut microbiome in achieving personalized nutritional interventions. He is now involved in several prospective cohort studies to understand the role of nutrients, dietary pattern, lifestyle factors and gut microbiome on risk of metabolic disorders, the effect of parental nutrition on offspring health, as well as the impact of early-life exposures on gut microbiome and long-term health issues. He serves as a committee member of the Nutrition and Health Food Division, the Public Health Nutrition Division of the Chinese Nutrition Society. Webpage.

Raúl González-Domínguez, PhD, Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz, Spain
ORCID
Research interests: Metabolomics, nutrition, gut microbiota, exposome, Alzheimer's disease, cognitive decline
Dr. González-Dominguez (PhD in Chemistry) is the Principal Investigator of the research group “Metabolomics & Bioanalysis”, located at “Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz” (INiBICA, Spain). His research lines are mainly focused on the development, application, and integration of mass spectrometry-based omics approaches, including metabolomics and metallomics, in biomedicine, nutrition, and food science. He has contributed to the development of bioanalytical key methods used for characterizing the role of the gut microbiota, nutrition, and other sources of exposure (i.e., the exposome) in health status, and to study inter-individual variability factors in the context of precision medicine. Using these omics approaches, Dr. González-Domínguez has great experience in investigating the molecular mechanisms behind the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline, obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases. Webpage.

Jiaqi Huang, PhD, Central South University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Precision nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, metabolomics, metabolic epidemiology, chronic diseases, biostatistics
Jiaqi Huang, Ph.D., is a professor at National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, and a joint professor at Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University. She received her PhD degree in Medical Epidemiology from Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; and she subsequently worked a post-doctoral fellow at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, United State. Her research expertise includes precision nutrition and preventive medicine, and her research experience has enabled applying rigorous study design and comprehensive statistical analytic skillset, as well as implementing state-of-the-science technologies through cutting-edge epidemiologic research projects within various data sources from large-scale studies. She has published original research articles in top tier journals, including JAMA Internal Medicine, Circulation, Circulation Research, Nature Communications, JNCI, and etc. Webpage.

Jingjing Jiao, PhD, Zhejiang Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Nutrition and disease, precise nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, cardiovascular metabolic disease, type 2 diabetes, public health nutrition
Jingjing Jiao, Ph.D., is a professor at Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China within the Department of Nutrition at School of Public Health. She is a joint professor at the Department of Endocrinology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. She is also a visiting professor at Harvard University T H Chan School of Public Health. Her research expertise includes precise nutrition and preventive medicine with a special interest in nutrition (including nutrients, diets and dietary patterns) and the prevention and control of chronic diseases especially cardiovascular metabolic diseases. Her research also focuses on the relationship between polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially long-chain n-3 PUFA, and cardiovascular metabolic diseases and the mechanism of regulating glycolipid metabolism. She has published original research papers in top peer-reviewed journals such as BMJ-British Medical Journal, Circulation Research, Diabetes Care, Journal of Internal Medicine, Chemical Reviews, Microbiome, etc. She serves as a committee member of the Nutrition and Health Food Division, the Nutrition and Omics Technology Division, the Nutrition Big Data and Health Division of the Chinese Nutrition Society, and the Sports and Public Health Division of the Chinese Biophysics Society. Webpage.

Lee-Ling Lim, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, University of Malaya, Malaysia
ORCID
Research interests: Diabetes mellitus, cardiometabolic medicine, heart failure, diabetic kidney disease, integrated care, precision medicine, implementation science
Dr. Lim is a Senior Consultant Endocrinologist and Head of the Diabetes Care Unit, University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Lim’s major areas of interest are cardiometabolic medicine with translational and implementation science components. She sits on the Scientific Work Groups of the ADA/EASD Precision Medicine in Diabetes Initiative, the WHO Global Diabetes Compact and The Lancet Commission on Diabetes, who provide authoritative resources in tackling the global diabetes epidemic. She has published ~80 peer-reviewed articles including high-impact journals such as The Lancet, Nature, Diabetes Care, and PLoS Medicine. Dr. Lim has received several awards including the World’s Top 2% Scientists 2022 by Stanford University and the EFSD Albert Renold Fellowship. Webpage.

Sartaj Ahmad Mir, PhD, National University of Singapore, Singapore
ORCID
Research interests: Lipidomics, metabolomics, metabolism, lipoproteins, fatty acids, maternal and child health, insulin resistance, diabetes
Sartaj Ahmad Mir, Ph.D. is a research scientist at the Singapore Lipidomics Incubator, Department of Biochemistry, National University of Singapore where his main focus has been on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. He has developed and applied quantitative lipidomics methods for population-scale studies. Through extensive national and international collaborative efforts, he has been examining the role of plasma lipids in maternal and child outcomes in population-based birth cohorts. He has implemented methods for the characterization of baseline changes in circulating metabolites from preconception through pregnancy to postpartum as well as the lipid signatures of cardiometabolic health in childbearing women. He continues to develop the state-of-the-art mass spectrometry methods to elucidate the role of lipids in pregnancy and early childhood. Webpage.

Marloes Dekker Nitert, PhD, The University of Queensland, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: metabolic and cardiovascular complications of pregnancy and the role of the microbiome
Dr Marloes Dekker Nitert is a Senior Lecturer in Metabolism at The University of Queensland. She was educated in The Netherlands (MSc, University of Amsterdam), Sweden (PhD, Lund University) and the UK (PG Certificate Clinical Trials, LSHTM). Marloes' research focuses on metabolic and cardiovascular complications of pregnancy and the role of the microbiome in the development of these complications. She works closely together with clinician-scientists. The overall aim of her research is to improve outcomes for mothers and babies. Webpage.

 

Noah Peeri, PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Epidemiology, health disparities, genetic epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, cancer survivorship, cancer epidemiology
Dr. Peeri is a post-doctoral research scholar at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He obtained his doctorate in epidemiology from the University of North Texas Health Science Center and his masters of public health in epidemiology from the University of South Florida. His research interests lie at the intersection of nutrition and genetics and their role in cancer etiology. He has training in advanced epidemiologic methods (i.e., causal inference), cancer epidemiology, and nutritional epidemiology. His research focuses on reducing cancer health disparities across several cancers. Webpage.

 

Li Qiang, PhD, Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences, China
Research interests: obesity, diabetes, aging, adipose tissue, IgG
Dr. Qiang is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Peking University School of Basic Medical Sciences. He was an Associate Professor with Tenure in the Department of Medicine and Department of Pathology and Cell Biology and the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University. With a focus on metabolism and aging, his team has identified IgG as an unexpected aging factor that drives metabolic decline and illustrated the selective regulation of PPARg through posttranslational modifications in the pathophysiology of cardiometabolic diseases. He pioneers depot-specific targeting of fat for local obesity treatment.

 

Catarina Schiborn, PhD, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Germany
ORCID
Research interests: Risk prediction, risk scores, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, observational studies, population-based cohorts
Dr. Catarina Schiborn is a postdoctoral research fellow at the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Germany. She earned her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Potsdam and holds an MSc in Epidemiology from the Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany, and an MSc in Nutrition Science from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Her research is dedicated to the different dimensions of cardiometabolic disease risk prediction. She is working on the identification of novel risk markers, the construction of clinical risk prediction models for individual absolute risk estimations and is interested in risk score implementation and impact assessment. Webpage.


Adrian Teo, PhD, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
Research interests: Stem cells, pancreas, islet, beta cell, diabetes, complications, precision medicine
Adrian TEO obtained his B.Sc. (1st Class) from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He completed his Ph.D. on stem cell biology with Ludovic Vallier at the University of Cambridge, under an A*STAR Scholarship. Concurrently, he was also an Honorary Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholar. He then trained with Rohit Kulkarni at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, as a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) fellow, on pancreatic islet biology and diabetes. Adrian is currently a Senior Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR, and an Assistant Professor at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, using human pluripotent stem cells for disease modelling of diabetes, developing therapeutics and cell therapy. He is also a co-founder of BetaLife Pte Ltd focused on the use of stem cell therapy for diabetes patients. He is a member of the Oxbridge Society of Singapore, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and an EXCO member/Vice-Secretary of the Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS). Webpage. 

Thaddäus Tönnies, DrPH, Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University, Germany
ORCID
Research interests: Diabetes Epidemiology, Epidemiologic Methods, Prevalence, Incidence, Years of Life Lost, Modelling, Projections
Dr. Thaddäus Tönnies is an epidemiologist and post-doctoral researcher at the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf, Germany. After completing his MSc in Epidemiology he received his PhD in Public Health in 2020 from the Faculty of Medicine at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. His research focuses on descriptive epidemiology using aggregated data and projections of future disease and economic burden of diabetes with a special focus on socioeconomic inequalities. This includes the estimation and projection of future prevalence of diabetes and associated impacts on mortality, life expectancy and economic productivity. This work is often conducted in collaboration with national public health agencies. Further interests include the application of causal inference methods in observational research and social epidemiology. With his research, Dr. Tönnies aims to raise awareness for the future impact of the diabetes epidemic on population health. Webpage. 

Hongjiang Wu, PhD, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
ORCID
Research interests: Diabetes, Epidemiology, Noncommunicable disease, Socioeconomic status, Trend analysis
Dr. Wu is an epidemiologist and a research assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received this PhD degree in epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, and completed two years’ postdoctoral training at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr. Wu’s research interests focus on diabetes epidemiology, including population surveillance of diabetes, young-onset diabetes, and social determinants of diabetes. He has extensive experience in large cohort studies and analysis of routinely collected administrative data. Over the past several years, Dr. Wu has contributed importantly to establishing the territory-wide Hong Kong Diabetes Surveillance Database involving more than 4 million individuals. His research aims to improve the understanding of epidemiology of diabetes and gaps of diabetes care in Hong Kong. Webpage.

 

Jieyun Yin, PhD, Soochow University, China
ORCID
Research interests: maternal and child health and policy, with a focus on disorders during pregnancy
Dr. Yin is currently working at Soochow University as an Associate Professor, after completing a PhD at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China and working as a visiting scholar at Duke University. Dr. Yin has received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)  multiple times and has published over 50 articles as the first or corresponding author in SCI-indexed journals. Webpage.

 

Ju-Sheng Zheng, PhD, Westlake University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Nutrition epidemiology, type 2 diabetes, genetic epidemiology
Ju-Sheng got his PhD degree in nutrition at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (2009-2014). Within his PhD program, he received one year’s training in the Nutrition and Genomics Lab at Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in the USA (2012). He was also a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow supported by the European Commission and a postdoctoral researcher at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, UK (2015-2018). Ju-Sheng joined the School of Life Sciences at Westlake University as a Principal Investigator and group leader in September 2018 and has been leading the Laboratory of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology at Westlake University. Webpage. 

Xiao Zheng, PhD, China Pharmaceutical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Depressive disorder, gut microbiome, signaling metabolites, drug discovery
Dr. Xiao Zheng is professor at China Pharmaceutical University. The main research focus of Dr. Zheng is on host-microbe interaction along the gut-brain axis via signaling metabolites, with a major aim to  discover new mechanisms and targets of neurobehavioral disorder and its gut comorbidity. He is enrolled by the National High Level Youth Talent Program, the Outstanding Youth Funding of Jiangsu Province, and also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Analytical Pharmacology Youth Committee of the Chinese Pharmacological Society. He has published multiple SCI papers in internationally renowned academic journals such as Cell Metab, Cell Host Microbe and Nat Commun.


Gastroenterology

Ina Bergheim, PhD, University of Vienna, Austria
ORCID
Research interests: Liver, Nutrition, Alcohol, Endotoxin, Intestinal barrier, Obesity, Aging
Dr. Ina Bergheim is a Full-Professor at University of Vienna, Department of Nutritional Sciences, RF Molecular Nutritional Science in Vienna, Austria. She is a Nutritional Scientist by training and obtained her PhD at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Hohenheim. After doing a PostDoc time at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA and habilitating at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany show was appointed as a Full-Professor at the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany before joining the University of Vienna as a Full-Professor in 2016. Her main interest in research lays in the interaction of foods and beverages including alcohol with intestine and herein especially the intestinal barrier function as well as the liver as modulators of health and diseases. Webpage.

Jin Chai, MD, PhD, The First Affiliated Hospital of Third Military Medical University (Southwest Hospital), China
ORCID
Research interests: Gastroenterology, Cholestatic Liver Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, MASLD
Jin Chai, M.D, Ph.D, is currently a chief physician and professor at the First Affiliated Hospital (Southwest Hospital), Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University). He is now the Director of the Department of Gastroenterology, as well as the Director of Center for Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease and Cholestatic Liver Diseases Center. He obtained the National Science Foundation of China for Outstanding Youth in 2019 and National Science Foundation of China for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2023. He is also the deputy director of the journal of Liver Research as Youth Committee, as well as the academic editor of the International Journal of Clinical Practice, Scientific reports, and other journals. He is the first author or corresponding author of scientific studies published in many journals such as EMBO molecular medicine, Nature Communications, Gastroenterology, Journal of Hepatology, and Hepatology. His major research interests include the basic and clinical researches of chronic liver diseases and inflammatory bowel diseases, including cholestasis, MASLD and IBD. Webpage.

Huarong Chen, PhD, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
ORCID
Research interests: Gastrointestinal cancer, cancer immunology, epitranscriptomicsm colorectal cancer, RNA modification, tumor immune microenvironment, cancer biology, cancer biomarkers, cancer diagnostics, targeted therapy for cancer, molecular oncology, signal transduction
Dr, Huarong Chen is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, and Principal Investigator in the State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His primary research interests include basic and translational research of gastrointestinal cancer. He revealed abnormal genetic and epigenetic changes that contribute to the development of gastrointestinal cancer and elucidated their molecular mechanisms and potential clinical implications. Dr. Chen completed his Ph.D. study in Oncology with Prof. Shu Zheng at Zhejiang University and conducted his postdoctoral work at the Department of Medicine & Therapeutics of CUHK with Prof. Jun Yu. He has published over 60 articles in renowned journals such as Gastroenterology, Gut, Cell Rep Med, FEMS Microbiol Rev, EbioMedicine, Theranostics, and Oncogene. Recognized for his outstanding achievements, he was honored as an Emerging Leader in the field of oncology by Oncogene journal. Webpage.

Shujie Chen, MD, PHD, Zhejiang University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Gut microbes, colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal senescence, immune checkpoint blockade, tryptophan metabolism
Dr. Chen is the Chief Physician of the Department of Gastroenterology at Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. She is the director of the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at the hospital. Her main research interests are intestinal microecology and diseases related to intestinal homeostasis imbalance, especially microbial intervention in colorectal cancer, colitis and intestinal senescence. She has published research articles in Cell, Nat Commun, Trends in Cancer, Advanced Science, J Clin Invest, EBioMedicine as the corresponding author. Webpage.

Tanvi Dhere, Dr. med., Emory University School of Medicine, United States
Research interests: Lifecourse epidemiology, Natural experiment, Cardiovascular Disease, Healthy aging, Meta-analysis, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, Biological aging
Dr. Tanvi Dhere is an associate professor in the Division of Digestive Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine.  She joined the division in 2009 and has helped to build the IBD program and is co-founder of the Emory Microbiota Enrichment Program.  Her clinical and research interests include inflammatory bowel disease and fecal transplant.  She has several publications relating to these topics and is currently studying genetics of IBD in the minority population.  She currently serves as the Director of the GI Course for Emory Medical students.   Dr. Dhere has been the recipient of several clinical and educational awards including the inaugural Emory Digestive Diseases Educator Award, Emory School of Medicine's Dean's Teaching Award, and the Georgia Crohn's and Colitis Foundation Premier Physician Awards. In 2023, she was named an Eminent Physician by the Emory School of Medicine, a designation given to less than 10% of faculty members. Webpage

Mauro Giuffrè, MD, Yale School of Medicine, United States of America
Research interests: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Large Language Models, Gastroenterology, Hepatology
Mauro Giuffrè is a physician and biostatistician specializing in gastroenterology and hepatology, with a profound interest in integrating artificial intelligence into clinical practice. With a background in both clinical and data science, Mauro is skilled in the management and analysis of complex datasets, bringing a unique perspective to the intersection of medicine and technology. His expertise lies in developing machine learning models for gastroenterology and hepatology, focusing on hepatocellular carcinoma, and enhancing clinical decision support systems using large language models. Over the past years, he has developed a strong interest in the clinical implications of AI, particularly its role in enhancing the accuracy of diagnostics and treatment strategies. Currently, Mauro is leading efforts to refine AI-based clinical decision support tools to ensure they are both interpretable and reliable, with a keen focus on their application in high-stakes clinical environments. Webpage.

Sungjin Ko, DVM, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA
ORCID
Research interests: liver cancer, hepatic cell plasticity, liver diseases, cholangiocarcinoma, transcription factor
Sungjin Ko holds DVM and PhD degree. He has studied liver disease pathology at the University of Pittsburgh focusing on modulating cell fate using pharmacogenetic tools that regulate the cellular programming of liver epithelial cells, particularly at the intersections of stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, and cancer therapy. Webpage.

 

Arunkumar Krishnan, MD, West Virginia University School of Medicine, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Obesity, Hepatobiliary diseases, metabolic syndrome, oncology, Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Cirrhosis, pharmacoepidemiology, and endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies. advanced endoscopy
Dr. Arunkumar Krishnan obtained his Degree in Medicine and residency in India. He is now working as an Advanced Endoscopy Clinical Research Fellow at West Virginia University School of Medicine, USA. He worked as a Clinical Research Fellow in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Krishnan received several prestigious awards and travel grants for his research works, which include a prestigious Young Clinician Award from World Gastroenterology Organization and Young Investigator Award from the international Pancreatic Association. He is interested in an innovative, integrative, and critical-thinking approach to evidence-based clinical medicine. His primary research concerns Internal medicine, Gastroenterology, and hepatology. His research works often connect related areas like metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, and pharmacoepidemiology in his Internal medicine studies, in addition to integrating research after advanced therapeutic endoscopic procedures and endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies. He has published more than 60+ peer-reviewed papers in journals on diverse topics. Webpage.

Dabin Liu, PhD, Harbin Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, medicine, liver cancer, oncology, cholesterol metabolism, obesity, nutrition, disorders of adipocyte-liver interaction
Dr. Liu obtained his PhD degree in medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2017, and completed three years’ postdoctoral training at the same university. He is now working as a professor at the NHC Key Laboratory of Molecular Probes and Targeted Diagnosis and Therapy, Harbin Medical University, China. Dr. Liu’s research interests focus on the pathogenesis, clinical diagnosis and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and NAFLD associated HCC (NAFLD-HCC). His work was selected as one of the spotlight achievements in NAFLD pathogenesis and treatment in 2018. His research aims to discover and identify novel driver genes and therapeutic strategy of NAFLD and NAFLD-HCC in China. Webpage.

Xuefeng Luo, PhD, MD, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Cirrhosis, portal hypertension, hepatocellular carcinoma, vascular liver diseases, interventional radiology
Dr. Luo is an Associate Professor in the Department of gastroenterology and hepatology at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Dr. Luo' clinical focus lies in vascular and interventional radiology with a particular focus on the diagnosis and treatment of portal hypertension, vascular liver diseases, and hepatocellular carcinoma. He is a faculty of Baveno and editor of several journals. Webpage 

Alexandre Nuzzo, MD, PhD, Beaujon Hospital, Paris Cité University, France
ORCID
Research interests: Gastroenterology and hepatology, enteral and parenteral nutrition, short bowel syndrome, abdominal pain, mesenteric ischemia, IBD (crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). Intensive care medicine, GI emergencies.
Alexandre Nuzzo, MD, PhD, is a consultant gastroenterologist and intensivist. He completed a MD in both Gastroenterology and Intensive Care Medicine, before getting a PhD in Biochemistry at Imperial College London and Paris Cité University. His clinical and research work in the Intestinal Stroke Center (Beaujon Hospital, Paris Cité University) focuses on improving knowledge and management of gastro-intestinal vascular and inflammatory bowel diseases. Webpage.

Andrea Shin, MD, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
ORCID
Research interests: disorders of gut-brain interaction, functional gastrointestinal disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, dyssynergic defecation, gastroparesis, gastrointestinal motility disorders, functional diarrhea
Andrea Shin, M.D., is affiliated with University of California, Los Angeles. She received her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency at Indiana University School of Medicine. She then earned a master’s degree in clinical and translational research while training as a research fellow under the mentorship of Michael Camilleri, M.D., at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, followed by completion of a clinical fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Indiana University. She is a member of several organizations including the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society (ANMS). Prior to receiving her medical degree, she completed her undergraduate studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana earning a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in Spanish. She received the Arthur Metz scholarship for her undergraduate studies and was an honorary member of Phi Eta Sigma. Dr. Shin specializes in the care of patients with functional gastrointestinal and motility disorders. Her research focus relates to her clinical expertise and focuses on developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to treating functional gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Specific research interests include study of the role of the microbiome, metabolome, diet and psychological distress in IBS, chronic constipation and functional diarrhea. She is a prior recipient of an institutional career-development award (KL2) and a current recipient of a K23 career development award through the National Institutes of health. Webpage.

Yuhu Song MD, PhD, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China  
ORCID
Research interests: Liver cirrhosis, portal hypertension, ascites, hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, liver regeneration
Yuhu Song earned his first degree in medicine (1997), followed by PhD (2004) in gastroenterology from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He joined Union hospital, Tongji Medical College from Aug 2009. and became a professor in 2016.  
His research includes:
1) the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis; 2) the mechanism of liver regeneration in chronic liver diseases; 3) hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome; 4) differential diagnosis and the management of ascites.

 

Yanling Wei, MD, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology, Army Medical Center of PLA, China
ORCID
Research interests: gut microbiota, fecal microbiota transplantation, IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), disorders of gut-brain interaction, functional gastrointestinal disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal motility disorders, functional diarrhea, artificial intelligence

Yanling Wei, M.D, Ph.D, is currently a deputy chief physician and professor at the Army Medical Center of PLA (Daping Hospital), Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University). Visiting scholar, Hopkins School of Medicine. She is now the deputy director of the Department of Gastroenterology. She is the first author or corresponding author to publish 26 reviews and original papers in many international journals, such as Gut Microbiota, Gastroenterology, and Acta pharmacologica Sinica. She has interests in gut microbiota, fecal microbiota transplantation, IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), disorders of gut-brain interaction, functional gastrointestinal disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal motility disorders, functional diarrhea, and artificial intelligence. Webpage

 

Yu-Dong Xiao, Dr. med.; PhD, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Transarterial Chemoembolization, Prognosis, Ablation, Computed tomography, Magnetic resonance imaging
Dr. Xiao is an interventional radiologist specializing liver diseases. He is the first European Board of Interventional Radiology (EBIR) holder in China, which certified by Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe (CIRSE). He has published more than 30 papers in peer-reviewed journal as the first or the corresponding author, regarding MR imaging or interventional therapy of liver cancer in Radiology, European Radiology, Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Insights into Imaging, Clinical Radiology. Two papers are highly cited paper. His research project mainly focused on liver tumor ablation in mice. Besides, He is also an associate Editor or editorial board member for several journals, such as CVIR Endovascular, BMC Cancer, Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment. Webpage

 

Guoxiang Xie, PhD, Human Metabolomics Institute, China
ORCID
Research interests: Metabolomics, biomarker discovery, gut microbial-host co-metabolism, metabolic disease biomarkers, gastrointestinal cancer, gastrointestinal carcinogenesis, bile acid metabolism
Dr. Guoxiang Xie is the vice president of the Human Metabolomics Institute (Guangdong, China) and an adjunct professor at Kunming University of Science and Technology, China. Previously, he has been an Assistant Professor of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center) (2013-2018). Dr. Xie also served as a research scientist in the Center for Translational Biomedical Research at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for about 5 years. Dr. Xie received his M.D. degree in Pharmaceuticals from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. Dr. Xie has more than 20 years of experience as a scientist in bioanalytical science, metabolomics and in the medical field, and published over 100 peer-reviewed papers on metabolomics and biomedical research. He has worked on dozens of metabolomics projects that span the translational research spectrum from various rodent models to human clinical trials. Dr. Xie’s current research focuses on conducting comprehensive metabolomic studies to (1) identify the metabolite markers for disease diagnosis and stratification and (2) define the molecular mechanisms that link metabolic disruptions in gut microbial-host co-metabolism to metabolic disorders and gastrointestinal cancer. Webpage

Santosh Yadav, PhD, University of Nebraska Medical Center, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer along with IBD, gut microbiota  as well as microbiota, metabolites- pancreas cross talk
Dr. Santosh Kumar Yadav (Ph.D), earned his degree from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India. Dr. Yadav is currently working as a research instructor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). As an instructor, he is involved in understanding the pathophysiology of gut-related inflammatory diseases, including IBD and colon cancer, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), gut dysbiosis, and pancreatitis. Dr. Yadav delineates the role of barrier proteins in gut inflammation, gut dysbiosis, and their connection with the brain via the gut-brain axis using the repeated social defeat stress (RSDS) model. Along with the PTSD project, Dr. Yadav is also involved in understanding the role of barrier proteins in the pathophysiology of acute and chronic pancreatitis. Dr. Yadav’s previous research at UNMC was to understand the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease, including diabetes and obesity-induced cardiomyopathy, as well as cardiac stem cell physiology. Particularly, he was involved in delineating the role of inflammatory (pyroptosis/necroptosis) and apoptotic cell death mechanisms in the pathology of hyperglycemia/diabetes-mediated cardiac cell death and heart failure. Overall, Dr. Yadav’s research focuses on developing a therapeutic target for inflammatory mucosal and cardiovascular disease. Webpage.

Xiaotao Zhang, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Microbiome, epidemiology, nutrition, cancer epidemiology, liver disease, gastrointestinal disease, cancer prevention, clinical trial
Dr. Xiaotao Zhang, is an assistant professor at Icahn school of medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Xiaotao Zhang earned his medical degree in Preventive Medicine in China. With a growing interest in disease prevention at the level of population health, he emigrated to the U.S to continue his education and training in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans and The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. By merging epidemiologic methods with innovative techniques and bioinformatic/statistical strategies, his current research examines the role of biological and modifiable factors in cancer disparities and cancer prevention. He hopes to unravel risk factors and mechanisms to inform the development of new preventive interventions and clinical strategies. Webpage.

Geriatric Medicine
 

Osamu Katayama, PhD, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Japan
Research interests: Mild Cognitive Imairment, Neuroscience, Cognitive reserve, EEG
2024 – Chief researcher, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology
2023 – Visiting Researcher, Kyoto Tachibana University
2023 – 2024 Visiting Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
2021 – 2023 Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
2019 – 2021 Project researcher, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology
2008 – 2019 Department of Rehabilitation, Watanabe Hospital, Japan2019 Ph.D., Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kio University, Japan
2016 M.Sc., Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kio University, Japan
2008 Diploma, Chubu Rehabilitation College, Japan (Physical therapist)
Webpage

Prasad Nishtala, PhD, University of Bath, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Pharamcoepidemiology, geriatrics, polypharmacy, deprescribing
I have a multidisciplinary background in pharmacy, epidemiology, and data science, and expertise in outcome-based health informatics and pharmacoepidemiology. My overarching research purpose is to develop a coordinated approach to accelerate real-world evidence using Big data to improve ageing and pioneer translational research to improve the safety of medicines in the ageing population. Webpage.

Yao Yao, MD, Peking University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Healthy aging, fall prevention, compression of dependency, health management, cohort study
Yao Yao holds an M.D. from the Chinese PLA General Hospital and has undergone three years of training in Geriatrics. After completing the postdoctoral research at both Peking University and Duke University, Yao joined the China Center for Health Development Studies at Peking University as an Associate Professor. Yao Yao's research interests include F4 (Fight for Falls, Fractures, and Functioning disability) and "Compression of Dependency". Being a key investigator in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study (CLHLS), Yao is also key commissioners for two Lancet commissions "The path to healthy ageing in China: a Peking University-Lancet Commission" and "The Lancet standing commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care 2024." Webpage.

 

Global, Public and Environmental Health
 

Loai Albarqouni, MD, MSc, PhD, Bond University, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Evidence-Based Practice; Primary Care; Low value care; Overdiagnosis; Non-communicable Diseases; Clinical Epidemiology
Loai is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare. His research expertise includes evidence synthesis, evidence-based practice, healthcare services, and primary care. He is a medical doctor (MD) from Palestine and completed a Master’s degree in clinical epidemiology at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany, followed by a PhD degree in evidence-based practice from Bond University, Australia. Webpage.
 

Omayma Alshaarawy, MBBS, PhD, Michigan State University, United States of America
ORCID
Research interests: Cannabis; Diabetes; Cardiovascular Disease; Maternal Health; Drug use; Epidemiology; Obesity
Dr. Omayma Alshaarawy is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University Department of Family Medicine, with over 18 years of training in medicine and public health. Dr. Alshaarawy received her MBBS from Cairo University, Egypt. In 2013, she received her PhD in Epidemiology from the West Virginia University School of Public Health. Her federally funded research combines epidemiological methods and laboratory experiments to study cannabis use and cardiometabolic health. Other research areas of interest include drug use in women of childbearing age, and environmental epidemiology. Dr. Alshaarawy has reviewed for top funders and journals, including the National Institute of Health, March of Dimes, Swiss National Science Foundation, JAMA, Circulation and Diabetes Care. Webpage

Steven Bell, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Alcohol, coronary heart disease, stroke; small vessel disease, Mendelian randomization, GWAS
Steven is an Epidemiologist based within the Stroke Research Group at the University of Cambridge with an interest in cardiovascular disease and related conditions. His work utilises genome-wide association studies (GWAS) alongside bioinformatic approaches to obtain insights in disease aetiology. This includes applying techniques such as Mendelian randomization to prioritise therapeutic targets and inform clinical or public health decision making. More widely, he has an interest in individual participant data meta-analysis, the use of electronic health records in medical research, the application and integration of various “-omic” technologies (e.g. metabolomics, proteomics, phenomics), machine learning and modelling of longitudinal data. Webpage.

Jean Joel Bigna, MD, Centre Pasteur of Cameroon, Cameroon
ORCID
Research interests: Epidemiology, Systematic reviews, Meta-analysis, Clinical Trials, Metabolic syndrome, Diabetes, Hypertension, Cardiovascular risk factors, Dyslipidemias, Obesity, Pulmonary Hypertension, HIV, hepatitis, Tuberculosis, Public Health, Global Health
Jean Joel is a medical doctor and researcher from Cameroon. It is an expert in epidemiology, clinical trials, and systematic reviews with focus on infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases and the interplay between these two conditions in the global context. He authored more than a hundred of papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals. In his free time, Jean Joel spends a lot of time with his family playing video games and basketball. Webpage.

Anne HY Chu, PhD, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Singapore
Research interests: Epidemiology, Public health, Lifestyle behaviour, Physical activity, Sedentary behaviour, Mental health, Systematic review and meta-analysis, Interventions, Women’s health
Dr. Chu is a multidisciplinary researcher with a background in epidemiology and public health. Her work focuses on understanding health behaviors, particularly physical activity and sedentary behaviour, across the lifespan. She has extensive experience in assessing the accuracy of wearable health devices and questionnaires and has investigated the impact of these behaviours on various health outcomes, including cardiometabolic risk factors, psychological distress, and pregnancy-related conditions such as gestational diabetes. Dr. Chu’s recent research spans from preconception to postpartum, examining long-term impact of women’s health on the health outcomes of their pregnancy and offspring. She is also exploring the role of diet and lifestyle patterns in colorectal cancer prevention at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Chu is a peer reviewer for multiple leading journals and was honoured as one of only 12 outstanding peer reviewers for the Journal of Physical Activity & Health in 2023. Webpage

Andreas Haas, BA, MA, PD, PhD, University of Bern, Switzerland
ORCID
Research interests: Epidemiology, mental health, HIV, suicide, global health
Dr Haas is the Head of the Mental Health Research Group at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern and holds an honorary appointment from Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research (CIDER) at the University of Cape Town. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. His research focuses on the epidemiology of psychiatric illnesses and HIV in Southern Africa. Dr Haas has extensive experience in cohort studies, the analysis of large observational databases, clinical trials, and systematic reviews. Webpage.

Mesfin Gebrehiwot, PhD, Wollo University, Ethiopia
ORCID
Research interests: Environmental Health, Public Health, Ecology and Health
My broad research areas of interest focuses on any environmental health issues, Water, sanitation and hygiene, environmental determinants of human health, human-environment interactions, aquatic ecology, water quality, and environmental and health policy analysis. My approach mainly relies on the investigation of environmental factors (water, air, and food) influencing human health and analysis of human activities affecting our environment. During my research career, I have employed a range of methodological approaches, from small scale laboratory analysis of environmental samples (particularly water) to detailed field observations and measurements.

 

Amal Khanolkar, MSc, PhD, King's College London, United Kingdom
Research interests: Epidemiology, observational research, cohort studies, health inequalities, sexual minority health, LGBTQ health, non-communicable disease epidemiology, multimorbidity, mental health physical health comorbidity, lifecourse epidemiology, ethnic minority health
Amal is a social and lifecourse epidemiologist with a keen interest in methodology (especially longitudinal methods), specialising in health inequalities and noncommunicable disease epidemiology. His strengths lie in observational epidemiology and mixed methods, data management and analysis, teaching (basic and advanced epidemiology and biostatistics, methods for health inequalities research and social medicine), project management and supervision of research projects (specifically MSc dissertations and PhD projects). In the past 5 years, he has developed a strong interest in non-communicable diseases, mental health and specifically in comorbidity between mental and physical health and associated inequalities, especially those related to marginalised and minority groups. He currently leads a mixed-methods project examining mental health inequalities in individuals with multiple minority identities (expanding on intersectionality and the minority stress and cultural relational theories). Webpage.

Youngwon Kim, PhD, The University of Hong Kong, China
Research interests: physical activity, sedentary behaviour, epidemiology, public health, fitness
Professor Youngwon Kim is Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health of Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). As a physical activity epidemiologist, Professor Kim has focused his research on understanding the preventive role of physical activity from an epidemiological perspective. Specifically, he has examined the associations of physical activity, and fitness with various mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer outcomes using data from the UK Biobank project. He has explored the potential role of sedentary behaviour, physical activity or fitness in modifying the increased genetic risk of common chronic diseases not only in European descendants but also in East Asian descendants using multiple large-scale cohort datasets. In addition, he has been carrying out clinical trials to determine the effects of wearable device functions alone or in combination with genetic risk communication or health coaching on behaviour change and cardiometabolic risk markers. His primary research interest also lies in improving methodologies for conducting physical activity epidemiology research. Professor Kim's publications in this line of research have focused on evaluating the utility and validity of various accelerometer-based wearable devices and self-reports. Webpage.

Kaisa Koivunen, PhD, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Research interests: Healthy aging, epidemiology, public health, functional ability, physical activity 
Kaisa Koivunen, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences and Gerontology Research Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She obtained her PhD in Gerontology and Public Health in 2021 and is also a physiotherapist by training. Dr. Koivunen’s research focuses on functional capacity and physical activity to support healthy aging. She has expertise in the use of large cohort studies and national health registries. Webpage.

Bai Li, PhD, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Research interests: systems approach, systems thinking, global health, low and middle income countries, southeast asia, obesity, climate change, sedentary behaviour, policy interventions, nutrition, intervention development, intervention evaluation, randomised controlled trials, qualitative studies, mix-method studies, China
Bai is specialised in the development and evaluation of complex health interventions to address leading global challenges such as obesity, sedentary behaviour and climate change. She has co-authored with policy makers from 46 countries, led multi-nation, inter-discipline research projects to generate impactful scientific outputs used by international bodies such as WHO, United Nations, World Obesity Federation, Asian Development Bank, the State Council of China and Switzerland Federal Food Safety Office. She has a track record of leading international advocacy and methodological innovations of methods rooted in system science. Bai's contributions to global health and behavioural medicine have been recognised by prestigious awards from the ISBNPA, The Lancet, UKSBM and UKCO. Recently, Bai won the 2024 Practice Leadership Award from the Sedentary Behavioural Research Network (SBRN). Bai leads the City Futures Theme at the Cabot Institute for the Environment at the University of Bristol. Webpage.

Jiangping Li, PhD, Ningxia Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Mild cognitive impairment, Epidemiology, mental health, public health, Non-communicable Diseases, Environmental Health
Dr. Jiangping Li is currently a professor at the School of Public Health, Ningxia Medical University, in Yinchuan City, China. His research expertise includes environmental toxicology and experimentation, the construction and operation of population-based cohorts, the management of community-based intervention trials, epidemiology, evidence-based practice, and data mining. At present, he is particularly interested in the health damage caused by new environmental pollutants.Webpage 

 

Andy Lim, Dr. med.;PhD, Monash Health, Australia
Research interests: Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Clinical Epidemiology, Hospitalized Patients, Hospital setting

Andy Lim is a full-time staff specialist and attending physician in general internal medicine and nephrology at Monash Health in Melbourne. He is Director of General Medicine and Director of Physician Education at Dandenong Hospital within Monash Health. Andy completed his medical degree at Melbourne University and completed his nephrology specialist training at Austin Health and Monash Health. He subsequently completed a PhD in diabetic nephropathy at Monash University as a Kidney Health Australia scholar, during which he won the Young Investigator Award at the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology annual scientific meeting. Andy also has a Master of Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Sydney and is on the editorial board for a number of local and international peer reviewed journals. He is involved in education and training of medical students, hospital doctors and specialists in training. Andy is an adjunct clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine School of Clinical Sciences (Monash University) and a senior National Examination Panel member for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. His research includes clinical epidemiologic studies of internal medicine, having worked in hospital-based medicine for over 26 years. Webpage

 

Yanan Luo, PhD, Peking University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Healthy Aging, Mental Health, Life-course Research, Global Health.Yanan Luo, currently serving as an assistant professor and Ph.D. supervisor in the Department of Global Health at the School of Public Health, Peking University, and also the assistant dean of  APEC Health Science Academy, Peking University (HeSAy). She earned her PhD from the Institute of Population Research, Peking University in 2019, and undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the Peking University and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis International Postdoctoral Fellowship Program from 2019 to 2021. She has led research projects addressing aspects of the life course approach to cognitive health in later life, behavioral interventions for cognitive impairment, and mental health challenges among migrants in metropolitan areas. She was awarded the 8th Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by the China Association for Science and Technology. She has published over 70 papers in journals like Lancet Healthy Longevity, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, etc. Webpage.

Peter M Macharia, BSc; MSc; PhD, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp and KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya, Belgium
Research interests: Model-based Geostatistics, spatial modelling, vulnerability indices, geographic access, Mapping, geospatial information systems
I am a spatial epidemiologist/health geographer. Interested in spatial health metrics for improved understanding of health disparities and inequalities, vulnerabilities, and population health at high spatial and temporal resolution in SSA and LMICs. Particularly geographic access to healthcare, population marginalization and vulnerability indicators, coverage of interventions, disease prevalence, and associated determinants. I have expertise working with a variety of datasets, but mostly household surveys, censuses, health facility data, environmental data, and demographic and socioeconomic datasets. Webpage

Emelda Okiro, PhD, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya
ORCID
Research interests: Global Health, Malaria, RSV, Child Health, Childhood Immunization, Health Access, Population health
Emelda heads the Population Health Unit within the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya which aims to understand determinants of health transitions and vulnerabilities at fine scales across Africa and works to embed the use of data for decision-making by national ministries. Emelda has 20 years of Population and Public Health research experience. Deep expertise in Impact evaluation, epidemiology, public health, statistics, data analytics and operations research with a focus on evaluations and contribution analysis. Prior to this position Emelda was a Program Officer/Gates Fellow within the Global Health Team at the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. She has worked on evaluating the public health impact of malaria control, on evaluating anti-retroviral treatment programs while at IHME and on developing strategies for primary health care at Philips Research Africa. Emelda has a PhD in Epidemiology, has been awarded two internationally competitive Wellcome Trust (UK) Fellowships and is widely published. Webpage.

Petteri Oura, MD, PhD, University of Helsinki, Finland
ORCID
Research interests: Public health, life course epidemiology, causes of death, forensic medicine
Petteri obtained his MD-PhD degree at the University of Oulu, Finland. Since his PhD dissertation in 2017, Petteri has undertaken several research projects in the fields of life course epidemiology, public health, and forensic medicine. Petteri currently serves as a resident forensic pathologist in a joint position between the University of Helsinki and Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, where he also leads the Finnish Translational Forensic Neuropathology research group. Webpage.

Natalia Palacios, ScD, University of Massachusetts Lowell, United States
Research interests: neuro-epidemiology; microbiome; omics; Latino health; Alzheimer's Disease; Parkinson's disease
Natalia Palacios is an Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Massachusetts.  Her research focuses on the role of gut virome in brain health.  She leads several large studies on the role of microbiome in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, including an R01 focused on microbiome and PD in Nurses Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and an RF1 focused on the gut microbiome and Alzheimer’s disease in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study.  She has a passion for Hispanic/Latino health and seeks to uncover factors underlying health disparities that impact Hispanics/Latinos. Webpage.

Carmen Piernas, PhD, University of Granada, Spain
ORCID
Research interests: nutritional epidemiology, dietary interventions, NCD prevention
Dr Piernas is a Nutrition scientist, currently working as a Ramon y Cajal fellow at the University of Granada (Spain) as well as honorary University Research Lecturer at the University of Oxford (UK) since 2015. She graduated with a PhD in Nutrition and Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA). She is currently working on healthy and sustainable dietary interventions for the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases. Her research is grounded within the Precision Nutrition field and focuses on the integration of nutritional and lifestyle factors with omics data (from biological samples and microbiome data) to improve the understanding and prevention of noncommunicable diseases. Webpage.

Chen Shen, PhD, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Research interests: Genetics, Environment, Public Health, Cohort studies, Epigenetics
Dr Chen Shen received his PhD at the University of Hong Kong. He is now a researcher at the School of Public Health, Imperial College London. His research harnesses exposure, multi-omics, and deep phenotyping data to understand the aetiology and biological mechanisms of mental illness. He is interested in investigating how digital (e.g., smartphone and social media use) and physical environments (e.g., air pollution, noise, greenspace) influence mental health and brain development in young people. He manages a large-scale London-based adolescent cohort study (SCAMP), where he is responsible for the collection and curation of environmental exposures, genetic and DNA methylation data, mental health and cognition data, and record linkage to routine health and educational data. He is also an investigator of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Radiation Threats and Hazards, in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency. Webpage

Tianying Wu, MD, MS, PhD, San Diego State University, United States
Research interests: aging, nutrition, chronic diseases, climate, biomarker, cancer survivor, lifestyle, epidemiology
Dr. Tianying Wu is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at San Diego State University, with over 20 years of experience as a molecular and nutritional epidemiologist. Her expertise spans medicine, epidemiology, and nutritional biochemistry, enabling her to identify novel biomarkers and uncover dietary and lifestyle factors that influence aging-related chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases, as well as subclinical conditions and functional outcomes, including depression, insomnia, and physical function decline.
Dr. Wu's research is centered on precision medicine and nutrition. Her work has led to the discovery of novel oxidation biomarkers, evaluating different types of oxidative stress in various stages of prostate cancer, cardiovascular, and renal diseases. Her team has also uncovered groundbreaking dietary risk factors, including the seasonal effects of red meat consumption, the adverse impact of whole grains in breast cancer survivors, and the role of dietary acid loads across different smoking statuses. These insights have been linked to key aging outcomes, such as insomnia, depression, physical decline, and overall mortality. Webpage

 

Jian Xu, PhD, Shenzhen Chronic Disease Prevention Center, China
Research interests: Geriatric epidemiology, nutrition, Non-communicable chronic disease prevention

Dr. Xu is currently the Director of the Department of Elderly Health Management at the Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control. She holds a PhD in Nutrition and Food Hygiene from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. Dr. Xu has extensive experience in disease prevention and control, with research expertise in geriatric epidemiology, nutrition, and chronic disease prevention. She serves as a standing council member of the Chinese Nutrition Society, the President of the Shenzhen Nutrition Society, and the Chair of the Elderly Health Specialty Committee of the Shenzhen Preventive Medicine Association. Dr. Xu has received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) multiple times and has published over 70 articles as the first or corresponding author. Webpage.

Zhirong Yang, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
Research interests: diabetes, hyperlipidemia, dementia, stroke, atherosclerosis, acne, primary care, routine healthcare data, pharmacoepidemiology, systematic review and meta-analysis
Zhirong completed a PhD in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at University of Cambridge. He also holds a bachelor's degree in medicine and master's degrees in epidemiology and in primary care research. He was a research fellow in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard University in 2018. Before his PhD, he worked as a biostatistician in Shantou-Oxford Clinical Research Unit and then as a research associate in Peking University School of Public Health. His current research interests are in the use of routine healthcare data and evidence synthesis to inform the management of cardiovascular diseases, dementia and diabetes. Webpage.

Lijuan Zhang, PhD, Tongji University, China
Research interests: Epidemiology
Prof. Zhang worked as a vice dean at School of Public Health and General Practice, Tongji University School of Medicine; a deputy director of the Clinical Center for Intelligent Rehabilitation Research, Shanghai YangZhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center). The major research interests of Prof, Lijuan Zhang are Epidemiology focus on 
Chronic disease, especially cardiovascular, metabolic diseases, pregnant women and children related diseases epidemiology. Zhang chairs more than 10 high-level scientific research projects. As the first or corresponding author, Prof. Zhang published more than 40 SCI papers in Cancer communications, Environmental Sciences Europe and so on. Webpage.

 

Zhenyu Zhang, PhD, Peking University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Environmental Epidemiology; Cardiovascular diseases; cohort study; Air pollution; Public Health; Global Health, climate change, respiratory infection
I am a start-career investigator in the field of environmental epidemiology and global health. My interdisciplinary research lies in global climate change, air pollution, exposure estimation modeling, global infectious diseases, global health, and general epidemiology. My interests are: (1). Evaluating the effects of climate change on infectious diseases. I combine methods from traditional epidemiology, atmospheric science, and statistical modeling with the aim of answering questions of relevance to patients and policymakers. (2). Environmental epidemiology, especially particulate matter, we used comprehensive statistical models to estimate the individual PM air pollution exposure for participants from different cohorts from China, US, and South Korea, we also evaluated the health effects of PM on cardiovascular, otolaryngologic diseases, and cancer in cohort studies. (3). Translational epidemiology: I have a great interest in creating modeling frameworks that allow decision-makers to translate epidemiological data into effective decisions. I welcome collaboration from researchers, clinicians, or students having expertise in any field, who hope to create models to translate epidemiological data into meaningful policy, practical, or clinical decisions.

Health Services Research

Mohamed Estai, PhD, The University of Western Australia, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Health services research, RCTs, systematic review, diagnostic accuracy, surveys, population health, e-health, epidemiology, digital health, qualitative research, disease screening, prevention, artificial intelligence, rural and remote health, user behaviour, dental public health, global health, social determinants, health promotion
I hold a PhD degree from the University of Western Australia (2018). I have over 10 years of experience in research, writing, and academic publishing. My research background lies in digital health and population health. I have been working with researchers from the USA, Singapore, Thailand and Saudi Arabia on different projects. I have a good track record in funding and publication. I secured over $500,000 in research funding over the past 4 years. Throughout my career, I have actively engaged with the scholarly community as both an author and an editor. With over 40 research papers published in reputable journals, I have gained invaluable firsthand knowledge of the publication process. Additionally, I have served as a reviewer for numerous journals, honing my attention to detail and comprehensive understanding of academic standards. My editorial contributions extend to prestigious journals such as BMC Public Health (Q2) and Scientific Reports (Q2), where I serve on the editorial board. Currently, I hold the position of Research Program Officer at Western Australia Country Health Services (WACHS) since November 2022. I also maintain the role of Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia since 2019. I am a member of the HREC at the North Metropolitan Health Services, Graylands Hospital. Webpage.

Fangjian Guo, MD, PhD, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, United States
ORCID
Research interests: cancer epidemiology, cancer screening, cancer prevention, infectious diseases, nutrition, obesity and related comorbidities, racial and socioeconomic health disparities, predictive modeling, microsimulation models, comparative effectiveness, and health economic evaluation.
Dr. Guo is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at The University of Texas Medical Branch. He has been trained in Markov microsimulation models and economic evaluations. He also has extensive experience applying advanced statistical and epidemiological methods in analyzing data from medical claims, electronic health records, large national cohorts of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, and randomized clinical trials. Dr. Guo’s research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute and Texas Department of Family & Protective Services. His research aims to offer valuable insights for health policy and healthcare providers, reduce cancer burden, and improve patient outcomes. Webpage.

Woojung Lee, PharmD, PhD, Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, United States of America
Research interests: Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Geriatric pharmacy, Health Technology Assessment, Cost-Effectiveness, Retrospective Observational Studies
Woojung Lee serves as Associate Director of Health Economics and Decision Modeling at the institute of clinical and economic review (ICER). In her job, she oversees the development of economic models for medical interventions and conducts research that aims to enhance ICER’s methodologies for economic evaluation. Woojung previously held positions at healthcare consulting firms where she involved in projects aimed at assessing the economic value of pharmaceuticals to support HTA submissions and inform market access strategies. She also delved into innovative methodologies in economic evaluation to overcome limitations in traditional cost-effectiveness modeling approaches. Woojung earned her PhD in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute at the University of Washington in Seattle, and her PharmD from Seoul National University in South Korea. Webpage.

CHIHUA LI, PhD, University of Macau, Macao
ORCID
Research interests: Natural experiments and causal inference, Healthy aging, Meta-research, and Pharmacoepidemiology
Dr. Chihua Li is an Assistant Professor at the University of Macau, with a training background in epidemiology and biostatistics. He earned his DrPH from Columbia University, where he also completed his MPH in Epidemiology and Applied Biostatistics. His postdoctoral training spanned multiple institutions, including Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Li's research focuses on natural experiments and causal inference, healthy aging, meta-research, and pharmacoepidemiology, contributing to public health and evidence-based medicine. Webpage

Marc Mitchell, PhD, Western University, Canada
ORCID
Research interests: Digital health, health behaviour change
Prof. Marc Mitchell joined BMC Medicine as an Associate Editor in 2024. He received his PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Toronto in 2015. In 2017, he completed his post-doctoral training at the University Health Network and started an Assistant Professor position at Western University. He was promoted to Associate Professor at Western University in 2023. His research focuses on combining insights from behavioural science and behavioural economics (collectively ‘behavioural insights’, or BI) with scalable technologies and strategic partnerships to improve the health of populations. Webpage

Chen Yang, RN, PhD, Sun Yat-sen University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Chronic Disease Management: Geriatrics, Medication Safety, Multimorbidity, Primary Care, Polypharmacy, Treatment Adherence.
Dr. Yang is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, Sun Yat-sen University, China. He earned his Master of Nursing degree from Central South University and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr. Yang’s research interests include geriatric care, chronic illness and long-term care, multimorbidity management, medication safety, and family medicine. He also serves on the editorial board of BMC Geriatrics and Health Services Insights. His research aims to enhance the quality of care and health outcomes for older adults with complex healthcare needs. Webpage. 

Shuduo Zhou, PhD, Peking University First Hospital, China

ORCID
Research interests: Implementation science, Epidemiology, Health Policy, Health Data Science, health services
Shuduo Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at Peking University First Hospital and a Master’s Supervisor in Clinical Research Methodology. He received his Master’s degree in Health Economics and Ph.D. in Global Health from the School of Public Health at Peking University, and completed a Boya Postdoctoral Fellowship at the same institution. His research interests focus on clinical epidemiology, implementation science, and health data science, particularly in the development and application of large-scale health and medical datasets. Dr. Zhou has served as the principal investigator on more than ten competitive research projects, including grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, the Beijing Natural Science Foundation, and the China Medical Board (CMB). He has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles in internationally recognized journals, including Science Bulletin, JAMA Network Open, BMC Medicine, and Implementation Science. Webpage

Infectious Diseases

Samuel Akech, PhD, KEMRI-CGMRC/Wellcome Trust, Kenya
ORCID
Research interests: malaria, sepsis, antimicrobial resistance, paediatrics, quality of care, dehydration, malnutrition
Sam (MBChB, MMED (Paediatrics), Dphil) is a principal investigator at the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Programme, Nairobi, a honorary lecturer at the Department of Paediatrics, University of Nairobi, Kenya, and a Visiting Research Fellow, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He is a consultant paediatrician and clinical epidemiologist with research interest in severe febrile illnesses in children. His research spans understanding epidemiology of severe febrile illnesses in children, clinical trials, investigation of effectiveness of treatments in children admitted with severe illnesses, antimicrobial resistance, application of machine learning techniques and data science for biomedical clinical data, and in design of appropriate digital solutions for identification and management of paediatric sepsis. He runs an inpatient surveillance to answer questions of safety following introduction of new interventions, such a recently introduced malaria vaccine in Kenya, and to understand how compliance with clinical guidelines affect in-hospital survival. He is involved in teaching and supervision of postgraduate and doctorate students, is a peer reviewer for several medical journals and research funders and provides technical consultation to global bodies involved in health such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Webpage.

Andrei R. Akhmetzhanov, PhD, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
ORCID
Research interests: modeling, infectious diseases, outbreaks, COVID-19, Bayesian, infection control, reproduction number, emerging infectious diseases, vaccines, public health, global health
Andrei R. Akhmetzhanov graduated from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia and decided to pursuit his academic career in theoretical epidemiology and public health. With background in applied mathematics and physics, he found himself lucky to work with many profound scholars in biology, medicine, and computer sciences. He trained himself to deal with more applicable research involving data analysis and statistical inference. His expertise lies in mathematical modeling of infectious diseases with particular interest on outbreak investigation and identification of epidemiological parameters for emergent infectious diseases. In the past ten years, he lived in four different countries (Canada, France, Japan, Taiwan), and finally resided in Taiwan. Currently he is an assistant professor in Global Health Program and Institute of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at National Taiwan University College of Public Health in Taipei. While working in Japan, he was a volunteer member of the national COVID-19 task force in 2020. During 2021-2022, he interacted with Taiwan Centers for Diseases Control on similar matters. Webpage.

Pavle Banović, MD, PhD, TA, Medical faculty Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Research interests: Tick-borne diseases, Tick-borne pathogens, ARBO, Rabies, vaccine
Pavle Banović, MD, Ph.D., currently works at Pasteur Institute in Novi Sad. Pavle conducts research in pathology and microbiology with a focus on the research and diagnostics of emerging vector-borne diseases. Webpage.

Marion Brunck, PhD, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
ORCID
Research interests: Neutrophils, granulocyte transfusions, breastmilk, flow cytometry
I am currently an Associate Professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Mexico. I completed my PhD in biotechnology at The University of Queensland and a postdoc in experimental hematology at the Translation Research Institute, both in Brisbane, Australia. There I studied ex vivo neutrophil production and hematopoietic stem cell mobilization, respectively. In Mexico, I applied my multidisciplinary background (immunology/biotechnology) to develop original research lines aimed at: 1-resolving remaining questions revolving granulocyte transfusions as a strategy for neutropenic infection treatments, and 2-dissecting human breastmilk-derived immunity. My laboratory recently evidenced significant regulations in B lymphocytes in breastmilk from mothers with obesity (published in BMC Medicine). Webpage.

Godfrey Bwire, MBCHB, MPH, PhD, Ministry of Health, Republic of Uganda
ORCID
Research interests: Cholera, infectious diseases, public health, epidemiology
Dr. Godfrey Bwire (MBChB, MPH, PhD) is a medical doctor, researcher and a policymaker. Godfrey is the head of the division of public health emergency preparedness and response of the Republic of Uganda Ministry of Health. Godfrey is also a research fellow in the department of Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Makerere University School of Public Health. Godfrey’s research interests are on infectious diseases, public health and cholera. Godfrey et al. identified a new Vibrio Cholerae transmission event lineage (T13) from South Asia to East Africa, PMID: 29864113. Godfrey has an excellent peer-review record. Webpage.

Bin Chen, PhD, Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China
ORCID
Research interests: Tuberculosis
Bin has been engaged in research on tuberculosis prevention and control for over 15 years, focusing on the areas of epidemiology, social determinants, and active screening of tuberculosis. He serves as the head of the Youth Branch of the Chinese Tuberculosis Association and the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Latent Tuberculosis Infection of the Chinese Medical Association. He has finished more than 10 national natural scientific projects and provincial-level projects, published more than 60 papers on TB and won two provincial-level science and technology awards. 

 

Stefanie Deinhardt-Emmer, MD, Institute of Med. Microbiology, Jena University Hospital, Germany
Research Interests: infections, pneumonia, viruses, bacteria, microbiology, virology, aging, senescence, obesity

Stefanie Deinhardt-Emmer studied Human Medicine at Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, where she also completed a PhD in Virology, focusing on Herpesvirus research. After working in Surgery and Hematogy in Berlin, she began her role at the Institute of Medical Microbiology at Jena University Hospital. In 2020, she moved to the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California, USA, to work in Judy Campisi’s lab. Fascinated by cellular senescence, Stefanie combines her primary research on pneumonia with studies in aging. In 2021, she qualified as a specialist in Microbiology, Virology, and Infectious Diseases, and in 2022, she was appointed Assistant Medical Director of the Institute. Stefanie completed her habilitation on viral and bacterial pathogenesis and received the Young Researcher Award from the German Society of Microbiology. In 2023, she was honored with the Animal Welfare Award for her work on human ex vivo precision-cut lung slice models. Since 2021, she has coordinated a BMBF-funded consortium dedicated to exploring new photonic techniques for combating emerging viral diseases. Webpage.

 

Awoke Derbie, BSc, MSc, PhD, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
ORCID
Research interests: Oncogenic viruses, HPV, Medical virology
Dr. Awoke Derbie is an associate professor of Medical Microbiologist currently working at Bahir Dar University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ethiopia. His research activities and expertise are related to clinical virology in the broad field of medical microbiology, with a particular focus on oncogenic viruses, like HPV. His research interests also include antimicrobial resistance and infection control. Webpage.

Emily Edwards, PhD, Monash University, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Infectious diseases, primary immunodeficiency, immunology
Dr Edwards received her BSc (Hons) in Applied Biomedical Science at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC), prior to completing a PhD at Cardiff University in the UK. She relocated to Australia in 2011. She has since conducted research at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Garvan Medical Research Institute and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne. Emily’s research focuses on the cellular and molecular pathways that underlie Primary Immunodeficiency, including identifying molecular and cellular patterns associated with viral infection, autoimmunity and gastrointestinal disease in these patients. Her research has identified new genetic causes of Primary Immunodeficiency, susceptibility to EBV and how these genetic defects influence immune pathway function, memory B and T cell function, and drive clinical disease. She is currently working to further understand primary immunodeficiencies, in order to examine the immune pathways altered in these diseases to better inform patient diagnosis and treatment. Webpage. 

Catherine Gordon, BSc, PhD, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: point-of-care diagnostic, early detection of parasite infection, environmental monitoring, zoonotic parasites, epidemiology of infectious diseases, parasite genetics, and developing multifaceted control programs to combat parasitic diseases
Dr Catherine Gordon is a parasitologist at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute (QIMRB) in Australia. Dr Gordon received her BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and Biomedicine, with honours in Marine Parasitology, from the University of Queensland (UQ) and went on to complete a PhD also from UQ in Public Health and Molecular Parasitology. She has a track record in molecular parasitology techniques for diagnosis and epidemiology, medical parasitology, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), transmission dynamics, and field work in both the Philippines and China on animal and human parasitic diseases. Her research interests are in developing new diagnostics, including point-of-care, for early detection of parasite infection, environmental monitoring, zoonotic parasites, epidemiology of infectious diseases, parasite genetics, and developing multifaceted control programs to combat parasitic diseases. She is currently working on strongyloidiasis in Australia, and schistosomiasis in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Lao PDR. Webpage. 

 

Zhenyu Gong, MPH, Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China
Research interests: Vector and Vector-borne Diseases, Survillance and Control
A distinguished chief physician and professor with a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, is a seasoned senior expert at the Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention，P.R.CHINA. Additionally, he holds pivotal roles as a committee member of the National Health Committee’s Health Harmful Organism Prevention and Control Standards Committee, serves as the deputy director of the Vector Control Professional Committee of the China Association of Endemic Diseases, and is an influential standing committee member and deputy group leader of the Vector Biology and Control Branch within the Chinese Society for Preventive Medicine. He concurrently serves as the Head of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Teaching and Research Department at Hangzhou Medical College, as well as a mentor for master's students. His primary research focus encompasses public health emergencies, vector biology, and the surveillance, prevention, and control of infectious diseases. Webpage.

 

Wen Ping Gong, MD, PhD, The Eighth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, China
ORCID
Research interests: Tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, Bioinformatic, Diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection
Dr. Wengping Gong is the Associate Director of the Institute of Tuberculosis at the Senior Department of Tuberculosis, the Eighth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, and an Associate Professor and Master’s supervisor. He obtained his PhD in Microbiology from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (2015) and his Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Medicine from Wuhan University (2010). His current research focuses on tuberculosis prevention and control, vaccine development, and innovative diagnostic methods for infectious diseases. Dr. Gong has led 8 research projects, including those funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. His research has garnered numerous awards, including the Wiley China Open Science High Contribution Author Award (2023, 2024), and various accolades from national and regional medical associations. He has been granted 16 national invention patents and has published 74 papers in top-tier journals such as The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Military Medical Research, and eClinicalMedicine. Currently, Dr. Gong serves as an editor for several international journals including BMC Medicine, BMC Infectious Diseases, Journal of Tropical Medicine, Scientific Reports, PLOS One, and as a guest editor for Frontiers in Immunology. He is also a young editorial board member for iMeta, Exploration, iLABMED, and Infectious Medicine, and a reviewer for over 20 academic journals including The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Webpage.

Wen-Qiang He, MD, PhD, University of Sydney, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Vaccine-preventable diseases, Pediatrics, Population based cohort, Linkage study, Environmental epidemiology, Cancer epidemiology
Dr. Wen-Qiang He is a medically trained epidemiologist with experience conducting large scale cohort studies and record linkage using electronic administrative health datasets and laboratory information systems. Dr He has interest in using large scale population-based data to understand the risk factor, diagnosis and treatment and longer health outcome of health conditions in paediatrics, reproductive age women and cancer patients. He has used various advanced statistical modelling in the past work, including propensity score matching for regression analysis, time-series analysis for antibiotics prescription, distributed lag nonlinear regression for environmental risk factors, Bayesian inference for cancer predictions, and latent class analysis. Webpage.

 

Nityanand Jain, MD, Riga Stradiņš University, Latvia
ORCID
Research interests: Infectious Diseases, Virology, Laboratory Medicine, Public Health, Statistics and Systematic Reviews
Dr. Nityanand Jain is a lecturer at the Statistics Unit of Riga Stradins University, Latvia. Trained as a medical doctor (MD, Riga Stradins University), he collaborates extensively with medical students, researchers, and academic institutions worldwide. Dr. Jain contributes to several international initiatives focused on quantifying the global and regional burden of disease. His research interests include the epidemiology and pathophysiology of infectious diseases, as well as their clinical management.

Shiba Kuanar, PhD, Mayo Clinic, United States
ORCID
Research interests: LLM, Deep Learning, Image Segmentation, Computer Vision, Image Classification
Dr. Shiba Kuanar received both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, USA. Dr. Kuanar explores cutting-edge advancements in medical imaging analysis through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methodologies, particularly in cancer research. His work integrates data from diverse medical specialties to enhance disease understanding and improve AI-driven diagnostics. Dr. Kuanar's primary focus is on developing and validating deep learning and probabilistic algorithms designed to detect diseases and assess their severity, emphasizing patient care and clinical impact. Webpage

Kwadwo Kusi, PhD, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Ghana
ORCID
Research interests: Cellular and humoral immunology of parasite and viral infections; Vaccine candidate discovery, design and testing; Pathogen biology
Dr. Kwadwo Asamoah Kusi is a Senior Research Fellow in the Immunology Department of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), University of Ghana. He started his career at NMIMR in 2012 after graduating with a PhD in Medicine from Leiden University Medical Centre, based on his work at Biomedical Primate Research Centre in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. His research has been on assessing pathogen-induced cellular and humoral immune responses, with a special focus on Plasmodium falciparum. He is currently working on identifying HLA-restricted epitopes that elicit protection-associated T cell responses in individuals with a natural history of P. falciparum infection. He is principal investigator of an EDCTP2-funded Senior Fellowship that is investigating the impact of hepatitis B and Plasmodium co-infections on the liver. He is lead Immunologist on an on-going phase Ib clinical trial of an Inovio Pharmaceuticals Lassa fever vaccine at NMIMR as well as on a combined trial of measles/COVID-19 live vaccines for cross protection in Ghana, as part of a multi-centre trial under the CROWN CORONATION umbrella. He has on-going studies on multi-allele vaccine formulation strategies that aim to overcome the strain-dependent effects of polymorphisms in immunogenic Plasmodium antigens on antigen-specific immune responses. Webpage. 

Katarzyna Lewtak, PhD, MD, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
ORCID
Research interests: epidemiology, infectious diseases, vaccines and immunization, population health, public health, global health policy and governance, health inequalities, hospital morbidity, health promotion and disease prevention.
Katarzyna Lewtak (MD, PhD) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Medicine and Public Health at the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, and a specialist in Public Health. She earned her PhD in Medicine at the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw, Poland (2013).
Dr. Lewtak’s current work is focused on refugee and migrant health, with an emphasis on barriers to access to healthcare, social determinants of health, and health policies. She has experience in research on health systems and services, hospital morbidity, health and migration, management and evaluation of policies and programmes in health, and global health.
She participates in different research/health promotion projects related to the health status of vulnerable populations. She has also participated in several national and international projects, e.g., Access to Vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants (AcToVax4NAM), Say YES to Vaccination (UNICEF), Reducing Social Inequalities in Health, Self-assessments of the Essential Public Health Operations in the WHO European Region, ProfiBaza -  Public Health Interventions for the Purposes of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Poland. Dr. Lewtak contributes as Thematic Editor in the Editorial Board of Family Medicine & Primary Care Review (in the field of Public Health) and also serves as a peer reviewer for several medical journals.
She is a member of the European Society For Paediatric Infectious Diseases, the Polish Association for the Study of Pain, and the Thematic Working Group on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Programme Registers (EuroHealthNet).

Oliver Mendoza-Cano, Dr. Sci. (Medical Sciences), University of Colima, Mexico
ORCID
Research interests: Environmental Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases, Arbovirus, Climate Change
Dr. Oliver Mendoza-Cano is a leading researcher in Health and Environmental Epidemiology and Health Economics at the University of Colima, México. He served as a Program Leader for Climate Change Adaptation and Nutrition Technologies at the Center for Global Environment and Health at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. He has worked in both the innovation ecosystem and sustainability.
He is now the General Coordinator of the Global Environmental Change Doctoral Program at the University of Colima. He is also a specialist in tropical diseases and climate change's effects on urban environments, leads the mass Spectrometry lab from the Conahcyt National Laboratory of Socio-Environmental Toxicology (LANCTOXS) and is Group Academic Leader UCOL-103: "Evaluation and management of environmental elements" at the University of Colima.  Webpage

 

Mary Oboh, MSc, PhD, MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM, Gambia
ORCID
Research interests: Molecular Biology, Pathology, Genetics, Next Generation Sequencing, Multiplex PCR, Genetic EpidemiologyI received my doctoral training in molecular parasitology and mycology from Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal, and specifically researched on genomic epidemiology of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistant allelotypes. I have acquired substantial experience in infectious disease pathology during my postdoctoral fellowship positions at the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Rochester Institute of Technology.  My overarching goal in the long run is to decipher the roles regulatory elements play in infectious disease outcomes, analyze and interpret immunological and omics data. I am interested in exploring how long non-coding RNA impact on P. falciparum virulence at the post-transcription level using computational tools. Webpage. 

 

Courtney Olwagen, PhD, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
ORCID
Research interests: Vaccine, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, molecular biology, clinical microbiology
Dr. Olwagen completed her undergraduate training and honours in Biochemistry at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, before pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, which she obtained through the conversion of her MSc at the University of Witwatersrand. Her current position is a Senior Research Scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Analytics (VIDA) research unit, located at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) in Soweto, South Africa, and she holds a joint appointment as a researcher with the University of Witwatersrand. She has extensive experience in clinical microbiology and molecular biology, with a strong focus on characterizing bacterial respiratory pathogens and specialized molecular diagnostics. Her research portfolio encompasses two primary areas: 1) the epidemiology and prevention of pneumococcal disease, and 2) the molecular epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae. Both research areas focus on addressing significant public health challenges in South Africa. Webpage

Bartholomew Ondigo, PhD, Egerton University, Kenya
ORCID
Research interests: Global health, infectious diseases, immunology
Bartholomew completed a sandwich PhD degree program from Maseno University, Kenya and University of Minnesota, USA. He also completed postdoctoral training from an array of institutions, namely Kenya Medical Research Institute, University of Georgia, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. Currently, he is an early career investigator at the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Egerton University, Kenya and a visiting post-doctoral fellow at National Institutes of Health, USA. His research interests focus on mechanisms of immunity and correlates of protection. Bartholomew particular focus is on pregnant women and children, the populations most susceptible to infectious diseases morbidity and mortality. He is interested in how people develop natural immunity to malaria, schistosomiasis and other tropical infectious diseases. In addition, he is interested in training and improving the prospects of graduate biomedical students. He is a member of several organizations including the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Kenyan Society of Immunology. Webpage.

 

Deepti Parashar, PhD, ICMR-National Institute of Virology, India
ORCID
Research interests: Chikungunya, Antiviral, Drugs, In vitro testing, drug delivery, Dengue
Dr. Deepti Parashar (Ph.D.), Scientist F, Dengue & Chikungunya Group & heads the Diagnostic Reagent Facility at the ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. Dr. Deepti has more than 18 years of scientific experience and she has done pioneering work in the country in RNA interference. She developed an RNA interference agent for the inhibition of the chikungunya virus. This research work was validated, and published, and patents were granted in the US, China, Europe, Australia, and India. In therapeutics, she identified anti-dengue and anti-CHIKV activity in bioactive compounds from medicinal plants and plant extracts. She also identified FDA-approved drugs that exerted anti-DENV and anti-CHIKV activity. Dr. Deepti has received several awards including the Endeavour Executive Fellowship for undertaking work in Melbourne, Australia, and the, ICMR-International Fellowship for work in Maryland, USA. Dr. Parashar has authored more than 80 national/ international publications in high-impact factor peer-reviewed journals. She has organized and participated in several national-level workshops and training modules in the area of molecular virological techniques for dengue and chikungunya, antiviral aspects etc. Webpage.

Junping Peng, MD, National Institute of Pathogen Biology, China
Research interests: antimicrobial resistance, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, sequencing, multiplex PCR, MALDI-TOF MS
Dr. Junping Peng received his M.D. degree at Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006. He is currently a professor of pathogen biology at the National Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College. Dr. Peng focuses his research on antimicrobial resistance, pathogen detection technologies, etiology and genomic epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases-related pathogens. Webpage

 

Matthew Quaife, PhD, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Health economics, infectious disease modelling, TB, HIV, cost-effectiveness analyses, choice modelling
I am a health economist specialising in the prevention of infectious diseases, working at the interface of mathematical modelling and health economics. I enjoy the challenge of representing complex human behaviours in models and understanding how to encourage equitable and efficient health. My work mainly focuses on HIV and TB. Webpage.

 

Max Carlos Ramírez-Soto, BSc, MPH, FRSPH, PhD, Universidad de San Martín de Porres, Peru
ORCID
Research interests: Sporotrichosis, subcutaneous mycoses, fungal infections, epidemiology, viral hepatitis (A, B, C, D and E), dengue, SARS-CoV-2
Max is a PhD Researcher at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru. He has a BSc and completed a Master’s degree in Public Health at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru. He is a professor and researcher in epidemiology and infectious diseases. His research expertise includes evidence synthesis, clinical and epidemiological aspects of fungal infections and infectious diseases. He has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals that explore clinical and epidemiological aspects of sporotrichosis, chromoblastomycosis, and superficial mycoses, and infectious diseases (HAV, HBV, HCV, dengue, SARS-CoV-2, and cutaneous leishmaniosis). He also works in managing funds in research and improving evaluation and selection processes in Peru. He is currently the Associate/Academic Editor and Editorial Board Member for various international journals. He also acts as an associate editor for the journals of BMC Cancer and BMC Infectious Diseases since May 2019. He serves as peer reviewer for various leading journals, and is a Top Peer Reviewer in Publons, Web of Science. Webpage. 

Elena Cecilia Rosca, MD, PhD, Victor Babeș University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timișoara, Romania
ORCID
Research interests: Neurology, Movement Disorders, Evidence based Medicine, Infection, Cognition, Basal ganglia
Dr. Rosca is a Professor at the Victor Babes University of Timisoara, Romania. With a strong foundation in evidence-based medicine, her research interests span various neurological disorders, including movement disorders, cognition, basal ganglia dysfunction, and infectious diseases.
Dr. Rosca's expertise is grounded in her clinical work experience and active research involvement. Her research endeavors have led to numerous publications in prestigious scientific journals, where she has also served as a reviewer and editorial board member. Committed to advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care, Dr. Rosca is passionate about applying evidence-based principles to inform clinical decision-making.  Webpage. 

 

Robert Adamu Shey, BSc; MSc; PhD, University of Bonn, Germany
Research interests: infectious disease, vaccines, diagnostics, pandemic preparedness, surveillance, computational vaccinology, diagnosis, biomakers, vaccine development
Shey Robert Adamu is Lecturer at the University of Buea in Cameroon where he teaches and carries out research on the use of computational tools for the rational design and development of diagnostics and vaccines for infectious diseases. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, where is also completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship. In 2020, Dr. Shey was awarded the WHO/TDR Clinical Research and Development Fellowship and underwent one-year training focused on research-related project management at the European Vaccine Initiative in Germany. He is currently an EDCTP-CANTAM Career Development Fellow and his project is focused on thedevelopment of novel diagnostic tools for onchocerciasis. In addition, he is the principal investigator of two projects funded by the Integrated Services for Infectious Disease Outbreak Research (ISIDORe);one focused on the development of diagnostic tools for monkeypox serosurveillance and the other on the development of transmission-blocking vaccines for Aedes-borne virus using mosquito salivary gland proteins. He is currently an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoc Fellow at the University Hospital Bonn, Germany, where his work is focused on preclinical vaccine development for filariasis. He is passionate about research capacity building, academic mentoring, and research development, especially in Africa. Webpage

Eunha Shim, PhD, Soongsil University, South Korea
Research interests: Mathematical modeling of disease transmission, infectious diseases, vaccination, influenza, differential equations, cost-effectiveness analysis
Dr. Eunha Shim is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Soongsil University, South Korea. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of British Columbia and her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Arizona State University, specializing in mathematical modeling of disease transmission and public health interventions. Dr. Shim’s research focuses on the economic evaluation of vaccination programs and dynamic modeling of infectious diseases, particularly HPV, COVID-19, and influenza. She has authored over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals and serves on the editorial boards of PLOS Global Public Health and Mathematical Biosciences. Her work aims to advance public health policy through innovative mathematical modeling and interdisciplinary approaches.Webpage.

Yannick Simonin, PhD, Université de Montpellier, France
Research interests: arboviruses, emerging virus, neurotropic viruses, one health
Dr. Yannick Simonin is a full professor of virology at the University of Montpellier, where he manages the microbiology course for the undergraduate program and a master's program in infectiology. He has been investigating the pathophysiology of viral infections for the last 20 years. Since 2016, he has been co-leading a team focused on studying the One Health aspects associated with viral emergence and characterizing the virulence of emerging viruses using in vivo and in vitro models and by studying patient cohorts. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications on arbovirus infections, particularly on neurovirulence and brain access (for ZIKV, DENV, WNV, USUV, etc.). 

Shuo Su, PhD, Fudan University, China
ORCID
Research interests: infectious disease; coronavirus; virus evolution ; emerging virus ;epidemiological
Prof. Shuo Su is focusing on the research of comprehensive prevention and control of zoonose diseases. Through high-throughput sequencing and virus evolution research , we can look for emerging viruses in animals/human , assess the potential of new viruses to infect humans, and make predictions and early warning for new epidemics.
2. Made a series of innovative achievements from theory to practice in molecular epidemiological investigation, viral infection and cross-host transmission mechanism. Webpage.

Henry Surendra, MPH, PhD, Monash University, Indonesia
ORCID
Research interests: Malaria, Tuberculosis, COVID-19, epidemiology, public and global health, observational studies, serological surveillance
Henry is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Master of Public Health Program at Monash University Indonesia and Senior Epidemiologist at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Indonesia. He obtained his PhD in Malaria Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine UK, MPH in Field Epidemiology from Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia, and Bachelor of Public Health from Universitas Ahmad Dahlan Indonesia.
His current research includes the evaluation of zoonotic malaria and land use changes, mapping malaria among mobile and migrant populations, serological surveillance for vaccine preventable, emerging, and neglected tropical diseases, COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on TB programmes, data science-integrated modelling to support TB control, development of Artificial Intelligence for X-ray-based tuberculosis screening in Indonesia. His works have been published in several top tier journals such Lancet Global Health, BMJ Global Health, BMC Medicine, among others. Webpage.

Lin Wang, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Infectious disease epidemiology, mathematical modelling, Bayesian statistics, machine learning, serology, immunology, arbovirus, dengue, influenza, SARS-CoV-2
Dr. Lin Wang is a Research Associate in the Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge. Before joining Cambridge, he was a chargé de recherché in the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Disease Unit at the Institute Pasteur, and a postdoctoral fellow in the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, the University of Hong Kong. He has a PhD in Electronic Engineering from Fudan University, MSc and BSc in Physics from Nankai University and Southeast University, respectively. His research interests include infectious disease epidemiology, mathematical modelling, Bayesian statistics, machine learning, serology, immunology, and viral evolution, with applications to arbovirus (e.g. dengue) and emerging diseases (e.g., pandemic influenza, SARS-CoV-2). Webpage.

Courtney Yuen, PhD, Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Tuberculosis, TB/HIV, community-based interventions, patient-centered care, implementation science, mixed-methods research, global health
Courtney Yuen, PhD, is an epidemiologist in the Division of Global Health Equity at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an assistant professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, USA. Previously, she worked in the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She conducts implementation science research on community-based models for tuberculosis case-finding preventive treatment, as well as epidemiologic modeling to inform tuberculosis diagnosis and prevention policies. Her research has been funded by U.S. National Institute of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Charles H. Hood Foundation. Webpage.

 

Medical Genomics
 

Sadhana Gaddam, MSc, Stanford University, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Genomics, Bioinformatics, multi-omics, Biostatistics, Skin biology, Cardiovascular diseases.
I'm a senior bioinformatician at Stanford University, College of Medicine. I received my B.E from Osmania University in India and my M.S in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from the University of South Florida in the USA. After graduation, I started working in two research labs at Stanford. My research focuses on using bioinformatics and computational approaches in understanding ectodermal patterning during human development and identifying innate immune lncRNAs involved in various human diseases. In addition to this, I am collaborating on research projects related to cardiovascular diseases. Webpage. 

Liang-Dar Hwang, PhD, The University of Queensland, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Personalized nutrition, sensory nutrition, twin modelling, causal modelling, mendelian randomization, genetic epidemiology, statistical genetics, taste perception
Dr Daniel Liang-Dar Hwang is a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. He received a BSc in Biochemical Science and Technology from the National Taiwan University, a MBiotech from the University of Pennsylvania. Following graduation, he worked as a trainee at the Monell Chemical Senses Center where he developed a keen interest in genetics and sensory nutrition. Later he completed a MSc in Nutrition at the University of Washington and a PhD in Genetic Epidemiology at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. Daniel has broad research interests include causal modelling, chemosensory perception, and personalized nutrition. He develops and applies statistical models to big data to understand genetic and environmental factors contributing to individual differences in taste and olfactory perception, their relationship with dietary behaviour and chronic conditions. He is a member of the National Committee for Nutrition of the Australian Academy of Science and is on the Leadership Team of the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research. Webpage.

Boyang Ji, PhD, BioInnovation Institute, Denmark
ORCID
Research interests: Systems biology; Genomic Medicine; Omics integration; Modeling; Microbiome; Biomarker
Boyang is scientific data developer at BioInnovation Institute, Copenhagen. He received the B.S. and M.S. from the Huazhong Agricultural University in China, and Ph.D. of genomics and bioinformatics from the Aix-Marseille University in France. His research aims to uncover the metabolic basis linked to human disease by using both experimental and computational approaches. Currently, his work focused on the discovery of biomarkers of human diseases with muti-omics data and machine learning approaches. Webpage.

Dries Martens, PhD, Hasselt University, Belgium
ORCID
Research interests: Ageing, telomere biology, environmental exposures, prenatal risk factors, developmental origings of health and disease, epigenetics, molecular epidemiology, child health, newborn health, air pollution
Dr Martens obtained his degree in bio-science engineering, and molecular biology at the University of Leuven, Belgium, prior to completing a PhD at the Centre for Environmental Science at Hasselt University, Belgium. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Hasselt University. His work focuses on understanding and studying variation in early life molecular ageing markers. He has a profound interest in understanding the gene-environmental determinants of telomere length in newborns and the potential health-related effects of telomere length at birth. In addition, he studies the importance of air pollution exposure on molecular ageing markers (including omics-derived signatures) over the lifespan. Webpage. 

Nagarajan Raju, PhD, Emory University, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Bioinformatics and computational biology, anti-HIV-1/covid/viral antibody discovery, B-cell repertoire analysis
Dr. Nagarajan Raju is an Associate Scientist Bioinformatics at Emory Primate center, Emory University, USA. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degree in bioinformatics at Bharathidasan University, India. After a year of research experience at Indian institute of Science (IISc, Bangalore), he joined Dr. Micheal Gromiha’s lab at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to pursue doctoral degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.  After PhD, he joined as a post-doc at Vanderbilt University Medical center and focused on B-cell repertoire analysis and antibody discovery against infectious viral diseases. He published more than 45 articles in reputed journals and received more than 1300 citations. As an active editor, he handled more than 100 manuscripts in many journals including BMC Bioinformatics, Frontiers in Bioinformatics, PLoS One, PeerJ and BioMed Research international. He also reviewed manuscripts more than 180 times and received Top Peer reviewer award, 2019. His current interest is mainly focusing on the following areas: B-cell receptor repertoire analysis, public antibody clonotype and broadly neutralizing antibody discovery, scRNA-seq analysis, Viral genome sequence analysis to develop novel immunogen, computational tools and algorithm development. Webpage.

 

Yuchen Xia, PhD, Wuhan University, China
ORCID
Research interests: hepatitis B virus, virus host interaction, animal models, immunology, oncolytic virus, antivirals
Dr.Yuchen Xia, is a professor at Wuhan University, School of Basic Medical Sciences, and the director of the Institute of Medical Virology. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from Wuhan University in 2005, he obtained master's and doctoral degrees from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Technical University of Munich. He subsequently completed postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. He has been engaged in research related to viral hepatitis for a long time and has conducted a series of work on the establishment of experimental models for hepatitis B virus, the mechanism of virus-host interactions, and new antiviral treatment methods. His main research findings have been published in journals such as Science, PNAS, Gastroenterology, Nature Metabolism, Journal of Hepatology, Hepatology, PLOS Pathogens, Journal of Virology, and several of his papers have been highly cited according to the Essential Science Indicators (ESI). Webpage

 

Chao Xu, PhD, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, USA
ORCID
Research interests: multi-omics; genetic epidemiology; bioinformatics; biostatistics
Dr. Chao Xu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He is a member of the Stephenson Cancer Center Biostatistics and Research Design Shared Resource. He received his PhD in Biostatistics from Tulane University, US. He has a broad background in statistical genetics, biostatistics, bioinformatics, and genetic epidemiology, with specific training and expertise in genetic and genomic studies of complex diseases, such as the osteoporosis and cancer. Webpage.

 

Jie Zheng, PhD, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Genetic epidemiology, bioinformatics, genetic tools and platform development, drug development research, multi-omics Mendelian randomization, phenome-wide proteome research
Jie Zheng (MSc (University of Sheffield), PhD (University of Bristol)) is currently a professor in Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine affiliated Ruijin Hospital. He is major in genetic epidemiology and bioinformatics. He gets multi-disciplinary backgrounds in statistical genetics, epidemiology, and bioinformatics, with specialist in building up platforms, applying causal inference method, such as multi-omics Mendelian randomization, to support translational research. During 2015-2018, He led/co-led on the development of a few post-GWAS databases and platforms, including MR-Base and LD Hub. Since 2018, he focus on using genetic tools and platforms to support translational research. I lead on the phenome-wide proteome research to support drug target identification, multi-ancestry research on complex diseases. Recently, I focused on research of several drugs related to endocrinology and metabolic diseases, including metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, SOST inhibitors. Webpage.

 

Medical Statistics 

Tianyuan Lu, PhD, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
ORCID
Research interests: genetic epidemiology, statistical genetics, risk prediction, causal inference, multi-omics, cardiometabolic diseases, psychiatric diseases
Tianyuan Lu is an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He obtained his PhD in Quantitative Life Sciences from McGill University in 2022 and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on developing and implementing rigorous statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology methods to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of complex diseases, and translating research findings into new medical care approaches and therapies. Webpage.
 

Bhaskar Thakur, PhD, UT Southwestern Medical Center, USA
ORCID
Research interests: cardiovascular disease epidemiology, rehabilitation research, nutrition and liver disease epidemiology, cancer epidemiology, hypertension, diabetes, mental health disorder, maternal and child health
Dr. Thakur is a faculty Biostatistician in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Population and Data Science at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Texas, United States. His research interests are focused on the epidemiological and statistical practice for the study related to neuroepidemiology, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders and rehabilitation, liver disease, and cancer epidemiology at UT Southwestern. Active statistical areas include analysis of the mixed effect model; modeling for longitudinally measured exposures and outcomes, design and analysis for stepped wedge cluster randomized trial, methodological research for modern causal inference, quantitative methodologies and analytic approaches to population research, systematic review & meta-analysis; analysis of secondary data and survey data, etc. He is a member of the American Statistical Society and the Indian Society of Medical Statistics. Dr. Thakur is an author and co-author of more than 75 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Webpage. 

Guangyu Tong, PhD, Yale University, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Trial design, causal inference, treatment heterogenity, meta-analysis, machine learning, developmental psychiatry, mental health, gun violent crime, life-course research
Dr. Guangyu Tong is a faculty member at the Center for Methods of Implementation and Prevention Science and Department of Biostatistics at Yale University. He is interested in methodological research on pragmatic trial design, causal inference, Bayesian statistics and meta-analysis. He is also experienced in applied research on developmental psychiatry, mental health, gun violent crime, life-course research, immigrants and minorities, among others. Webpage.

 

Nephrology
 

James Fotheringham, MBChB, PhD, University of Sheffield, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Health-related quality of life, Health Economics, Health Services Research, Causal Inference, haemodialysis, dialysis, kidney transplantation, chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, kidney
James is a consultant nephrologist and senior lecturer who works between the Sheffield Kidney Institute and the University of Sheffield’s School of Health and Related Research. His research has been recognised by young investigator awards from the British Transplant Society and the Renal Association, and the award of an NIHR intermediate fellowship on comparative effectiveness analysis using real world data. His primary interest is health economic evaluation in kidney disease. These combinations of skills are recognised by his appointment as Vice Chair of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence Technology Assessment Committee A, where he routinely appraises clinical trials, meta-analyses and survival modelling. He holds multiple NIHR grants, supervises PhD students and academic clinical trainees, and remains an active renal physician. Webpage. 

Sam Kant, MD, Johns Hopkins University, USA
orcid.org/0000-0001-5863-3562
Research interests: Glomerulonephritis, Immunosuppression, Transplant, nephrology, kidney, anti–neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis
Dr. Kant is a transplant and general nephrologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has completed internal medicine residency and chief residency at University of Maryland, with subsequent general and transplant nephrology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. His research interests include immunosuppression, transplantation, immunology and glomerulonephritis. He is also chair of the American College of Physicians-Maryland Young Physicians Council. Webpage.

Ashish Verma, MBSS, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Chronic kidney disease, diabetic kidney disease, renal amyloidosi, acid base and electrolytes disorder, aldosterone
Dr. Verma is a clinician-investigator interested in chronic kidney disease (CKD), Renal Amyloidosis, cardiorenal syndrome, diabetic kidney disease (DKD), renal physiology, and electrolyte abnormalities. Dr. Verma's research projects include epidemiologic investigations utilizing large databases and translational and patient-oriented research projects. Ongoing studies include predictors of CKD progression using CRIC cohort and UK biobank, predictors of mortality in CKD patients using NHANES, a Physiology study examining the role of Kidney Function Reserve and renal plasma flow in phenotyping chronic kidney disease and the role of intravitreal VEGF inhibitors in causing nephrotoxicity. Webpage.

 

Neurology

Pablo Andrade, PhD, MD, University Hospital Cologne, Germany
ORCID
Research interests: Neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, psychosurgery, spinal cord stimulation, functional neurosurgery, stereotactic neurosurgery, neuroprosthetics
Pablo Andrade is an Assistant Professor at the University of Cologne and Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon at the University Hospital Cologne in Germany. He was educated in Mexico/USA (MD, Anáhuac University/University of Miami), the Netherlands (PhD, Maastricht University) and Germany (Board-Certified Neurosurgeon, University Hospital Cologne). Dr. Andrade is Head of the Functional Neurosurgery Lab at the Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at the University Hospital Cologne. His clinical activities and scientific research are oriented to the field of deep brain stimulation in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Currently, he focuses on the correlation between structural and functional connectivity patterns and their clinical outcome using neuromodulation. Webpage.

Alexandre Bonnin, PhD, University of Southern California and Children Hospital Los Angeles, USA
Research interests: neuroscience, developmental biology, placenta, fetal brain, blood-brain barrier, developmental origins of diseases, inflammation, infections, neuroimmunology
Dr Alexandre Bonnin is Associate Professor of Pathology at USC School of Medicine and The Saban Research Institute at Children Hospital Los Angeles. The major goal of his research is to identify molecular and cellular mechanisms by which prenatal insults influence normal brain development, leading to neurological disorders emerging later in life. Using mouse models his laboratory explores vastly understudied mechanisms by which maternal viral infections and inflammation during pregnancy alter the development and life-long function of the offspring blood-brain barrier as well as neuro- and gliogenesis. Results provide novel insights into the developmental origins of devastating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Other models investigated include the effects of maternal stress and SSRI antidepressants on fetal brain development –studies which led to several important findings, among which the demonstration that pharmacological SSRI treatment in utero can alleviate some maternal stress effects on serotonin-dependent cortical development in the fetus. Dr Bonnin received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Paris and the Pasteur Institute in France. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in neurobiology at the University of California Irvine and at Vanderbilt University (USA) before joining the University of Southern California in 2011. Webpage
 

 

Chu Chen, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Alzheimer’s disease, endocannabinoid signaling, neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinflammation, hippocampal synaptic transmission and plasticity, traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Chu Chen received his PhD degree from Tulane University and completed his postdoctoral training at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, USA. He is currently a Professor and the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Chair in Neural Physiology in the Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The theme of his research program is neuroinflammation in health and disease. His current research is dedicated to unraveling the cellular, molecular, and epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-like conditions triggered by traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to targeting endocannabinoids as potential therapies for the prevention and treatment of these conditions. Webpage.

 

Yan Dou, PhD, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, China
ORCID
Research interests: Alzheimer's disease, Neurodegenerative diseases, natural products, nanomedicine, biomaterials, neurobiology, drug delivery, biomedical imaging
Dr. Yan Dou is currently a senior research fellow at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. She earned her PhD degree in Materials Science at Tianjin University and completed her post-doctoral studies in Molecular Imaging at Tianjin Medical University. Her research expertise includes nanomedicine and drug delivery, and she is primarily focusing on drug development for early prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, with an emphasis on exploring advanced application options based on natural products. She has published original research papers in well-known peer-reviewed journals, such as The Innovation, Advanced Functional Materials, Bioactive Materials, ACS Nano, Nano Today, Chemical Engineering Journal, Theranostics, et al. Her research work has been supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Tianjin Science and Technology Bureau, and she also serves as a committee member of several societies in Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience. Webpage. 
 

 

Cheran Elangovan, Dr. med., University of Tennessee Health Science Center, United States
ORCID
Research interests: stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, cerebrovascular diseases, neurology, epilepsy, stroke primary and secondary prevention, stroke rehabilitation, post stroke epilepsy
Dr. Elangovan is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN. He serves as the Program Director of the Vascular Neurology Fellowship, Academic Associate Program Director of the Neurology residency and Assistant Clerkship Director. He completed his Neurology Residency at the Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, followed by Vascular Neurology fellowship at UTHSC, Memphis. Dr. Elangovan's clinical expertise spans inpatient and outpatient neurology, with a specialized focus on Vascular Neurology. His academic interests include medical education, stroke clinical research, and advocacy. His research areas include primary and secondary stroke prevention, and acute stroke treatment. Webpage

Hong-Liang Feng, Dr. med.; PhD, Guangzhou Medical University, China
Research interests: sleep medicine, Circadian Rhythm Disorder, psychiatric disorders, Case-control Study, Mental health, Cohort studies, Clinical Trial, Depression, dementia, bipolar disorder, mood disorder
Dr. Hongliang FENG is currently a Professor and Director of the Biological Rhythm Laboratory at The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Sciences (Psychiatry - Sleep and circadian medicine) from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Subsequently, he served as a post - doctoral fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital affiliated with Southern Medical University. His main research interests revolve around the discovery of sleep-wake circadian rhythm phenotypes, the roles these phenotypes play in neuropsychiatric disorders, and the development of novel intervention methods to regulate sleep-wake circadian rhythms. Dr. Feng has published his work in several prestigious journals, such as The Lancet Healthy Longevity, Nature Communications, and Annals of Neurology. He is actively involved in academic societies. He is the Vice Chair of the Special Committee on Exercise and Sleep Health of Chinese Sleep Research Society.Webpage

Sherief Ghozy, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA
ORCID
Research interests: stroke prevention and treatment, endovascular and interventional neurology, neuroimaging in stroke and neurovascular diseases, health services, clinical trial methodology, meta-analysis, medical education, e-learning, telemedicine, and digital health technologies
Sherief Ghozy is a clinical researcher with a strong interest in stroke prevention and treatment, endovascular and interventional neurology, and neuroimaging in stroke and neurovascular diseases. He has also conducted research in musculoskeletal disorders, health services, clinical trial methodology, meta-analysis, medical education, e-learning, telemedicine, and digital health technologies. Sherief has authored multiple publications in reputable journals and serves in editorial and reviewer roles for various scientific journals. He is currently a Clinical Research Fellow at the Neurovascular Research Laboratory in the Department of Radiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Sherief is currently pursuing an MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care at Oxford University in the UK. Sherief's research interests lie in improving the understanding of the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular diseases and developing new therapeutic strategies that can help improve patient outcomes. He is dedicated to advancing medical knowledge through research and is committed to evidence-based practice to inform clinical decision-making. Webpage.

Panteleimon Giannakopoulos, MD, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
ORCID
Research interests: Cognitive and Affective Neurosciences, Psychiatry, Neuropsychology, Psychotherapy
Born in 1965 in Greece, I obtained my MD degree in the University of Athens in 1989 before completing a full training on psychiatry and psychotherapy in London and Geneva as well as postdoc training in Paris (La Pitié-Sâlpetrière Hospital, Federation of Neurology). My psychiatric education combined early exposure to neurobiology and classical psychoanalytic training. In 1998, aged 33 years, I have been appointed as associate professor and medical head of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry of the University Hospitals of Geneva. Later on (2004) I obtained the position of full tenured professor of Psychiatry in the University of Geneva. From 2003 to 2011, I also assumed a parallel position of full professor of Old Age Psychiatry in the University of Lausanne in order to promote the academic careers of junior staff locally. An important part of my duties concerns the management and organization of psychiatric care for the Geneva state as Chairman of the Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry (2005-2015). In addition to this hospital position, I have been for 8 years vice dean of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Geneva having the responsibility of postgraduate and continuous education. To date, I have the responsibility of forensic psychiatry for law ordered treatments in the Geneva County. I have been also elected in the Executive Committee of the Council of Chiefs of Divisions in University Hospitals of Geneva.
My research field was initially that of the functional neuroanatomy of dementing conditions and may be illustrated by a series of clinico-pathological studies aiming to determine the relative weight of each aging-related lesion in cognitive deterioration. This work was made in close collaboration with the Department of Geriatrics and the Division of Neuropsychiatry of the University Hospitals of Geneva and the Department of Neuroscience of the Mount Sinai Hospital, NY. These ex vivo observations on neuropathological markers of dementia have been at the origin of an in vivo complement focusing on the identification of predictive markers of rapid cognitive decline in elderly controls. Lately, a new research program from my lab focuses on the fMRI and EEG correlates of human empathy in line with my current hospital position.
 

Lana Ruvolo Grasser, PhD, Wayne State University School of Medicine, USA
ORCID
Research interests: PTSD, trauma, anxiety, development, children and adolescents, dance/movement therapy, art therapy, inflammation, psychophysiology
Lana Ruvolo Grasser (she/her/hers) obtained her PhD in Translational Neuroscience from Wayne State University. Under the mentorship of Drs. Arash Javanbakht and Tanja Jovanovic, her NIMH-funded dissertation project, “Biomarkers of Risk and Resilience to Trauma in Syrian Refugee Youth”, identified skin conductance response to trauma interview and fear potentiated startle as candidate biomarkers of trauma-related psychopathology in youth exposed to civilian war trauma and forced migration. Dr. Grasser has extended this work to query efficacy and underlying mechanisms of creative arts and movement therapies to address trauma-related psychopathology in families resettled as refugees of Syria, Iraq, the Congo, and Afghanistan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led efforts to expand these programs to the virtual space, to reach school children across southeast Michigan. She is also passionate about science policy and advocacy, and is a member of the National Science Policy Network as well as her local branch SciPol Detroit. Webpage.

Wenting Guo, PhD, KU Leuven University, Belgium
ORCID
Research interests: neurodegenerative diseases (with special expertise in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Frontotemporal Dementia and Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease), regenerative medicine, translational research
Dr. Wenting Guo is a neuroscientist and postdoctoral research associate in both VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research and KU Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL) of KU Leuven University in Belgium. She received BS in Biological sciences and BA in English language and literature from Shanxi University in China, MSc in Genetics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, PhD in Biomedical sciences from KU Leuven University in Belgium. Dr. Guo’s research focus on building up in vitro/in vivo models, studying disease pathogenesis, and finding new therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative disorders with specialized expertise in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Charcot–Marie–Tooth (CMT) disease and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). She has published a series of peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals and own several research grants, fellowships, and prizes. Her research article on axonal transport defects in ALS patient derived motor neurons has been ranked as top ten most trendy articles in PubMed in the first week online and has been widely reported by social media including Alzforum, ALS News Today et al. Aside from research, Dr. Guo serves as external expert for two European Union's Horizon research and innovation programme funded projects to promote collaboration and communication between Europe and China, she also works as reviewer board, guest associate editor and invited reviewer for several international journals. Webpage. 

Niklas Joisten, PhD, TU Dortmund University, Germany
ORCID
Research interests: Exercise, tryptophan metabolism, kynurenine, inflammation, autoimmune diseases, rehabilitation, physical activity
Dr. Niklas Joisten is an exercise physiologist with particular interest in the interaction between metabolism and immunology. He obtained his PhD in 2021 at the German Sport University Cologne and is currently working at TU Dortmund University, Germany. His research focus is on tryptophan metabolism and exercise-mediated health effects among inflammation-driven chronic diseases. Webpage.

 

Feng Sha, PhD, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
ORCID
Research interests: neuroepidemiology; statistics; machine learning; dementia; mild cognitive impairment; mental health; health behaviour; routine healthcare data; global burden of health, population health, global burder of disease survey
Feng Sha is an associate professor at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. As a health data scientist in the field of neuroepidemiology and population health, he focuses on using mathematical models, statistics methods and machine learning techniques to conduct epidemiological studies on dementia, mild cognitive impairment and mental health. His recent work includes AI-based screening models for mild cognitive impairment, exploring modifiable risk factors for dementia and epidemiological issues in using routine healthcare data to conduct medical research. Webpage.

Shashank Shekhar, PhD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Neuroscience, neuronal circuit-signaling regulating homeostatic responses, UPR, autophagy, stress reponses, neurodegeneration
I am a postdoc in neuroscience interested in the neuronal circuit-signaling for regulation of homeostatic responses for long term adaptation during environmental changes. During my postdoctoral research, I discovered a conserved secreted pseudokinase which we named Allnighter (Aln) and found that Aln is part of a feedback loop in the Drosophila visual system. Aln is critical for proteostatic responses, including the UPR and autophagy in neurons. Our study identified a molecular link between proteostasis and sleep. This a first example of a secreted pseudokinase acting on different cell types. This surprising finding suggests that kinases and pseudokinases can be released from one cell to signal in another cell, in contrast to the conventional cell intrinsic signaling activity of such enzymes. During my PhD, I worked on Alzheimer’s diseases. I used human samples to explore possible biomarkers and designed and synthesized several peptides with potential therapeutic implications. From my PhD work, I published 15 papers; my thesis received the distinction of best PhD thesis of 2019 in our institute. Several other awards during my PhD. I am member of faculty search subcommittee (Neuroscience), UT Southwestern Medical center, Dallas, TX, Member, American Society for Cell Biology, Member, Genetics Society of America, Rockville, MD. Webpage.

Yuzhen Xu, MD, PhD, Shandong First Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Cognitive, dementia, stroke, biomarker, rehabilitation, diabetes, complementary and alternative medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, sports medicine
Yuzhen Xu is a professor at Shandong First Medical University. As a medical expert in the fields of neurology and rehabilitation medicine, he specializes in epidemiological and evidence-based medical research in the areas of cognitive disorders, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), diabetes, stroke, and sports medicine. His recent work includes prevention and treatment of cognitive disorders based on TCM interventions, exploration of early risk factor screening and preclinical interventions for dementia, and rehabilitation research on a variety of disorders including cognitive disorders utilizing conventional and cutting-edge technologies. Webpage.

Yin-Xi Zhang, Dr. med., Second Affiliated Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University, China
 Research interests: multiple sclerosis, Neuroimmunology, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, autoimmune encephalitis, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease, paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome, myasthenia gravis
Dr. Yin-Xi Zhang is a neurologist currently working at the Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University. He earned his MD degree in Neurology from Zhejiang University. Dr. Zhang is proficient in the diagnosis and treatment of neuroimmunological diseases. His research focuses on neuroimmunology, with particular interests in autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system, including multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, MOG antibody-associated diseases, autoimmune encephalitis, and other antibody-related neurological disorders. He has published a series of peer-reviewed articles as first and corresponding author in leading journals, including BMC Medicine, Neurology, Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, Journal of Neurology, Multiple Sclerosis Journal, Epilepsia, and Fluids and Barriers of the CNS. He also serves as an Editorial Board member, guest editor, and invited reviewer for several international high-impact journals.Webpage

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Erin Greaves, PhD, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Research interests: Endometriosis, Women's health, Reproductive biology, Macrophage biology, Immunology
Dr. Erin Greaves is an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, focusing on reproductive health and the pathophysiology of endometriosis. She works at the intersection of discovery science and clinical research, exploring mechanisms that drive endometriosis to develop innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Dr. Greaves collaborates with leading institutions to advance women’s health, contributing extensively to peer-reviewed journals. She is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring, aiming to inspire the next generation of scientists in reproductive medicine. She completed her PhD at the University of Leeds in 2009 prior to working at the University of Edinburgh MRC Centre for Reproductive Health as a postdoc. In 2015 she secured an MRC Career Development Award to set up her lab and in 2019 was recruited to Warwick Medical School. Webpage.

Jon Huang, PhD, MPH, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Reproductive, perinatal, pediatric epidemiology, causal inference, molecular epidemiology, environmental health, life course, birth cohorts
Dr. Jon Huang is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Data Science at the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Heath, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, USA and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Centre for Quantitative Medicine and Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medicine School, Singapore. His research involves the application of quantitative causal inference and molecular methods to reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric health and using multi-modal data from birth cohorts across four continents. He has held competitive funding for several projects in this theme, including: environmental contaminant effects on child health and neurodevelopment; placental multi-omic mediators of early development; social determinants of the exposome; and an mHealth RCT for expectant couples. He has published widely including in JAMA Pediatrics, Environmental Health Perspectives, and Nature Communications, and provided invited commentaries to Epidemiology, Lancet Digital Health, Nature Human Behavior, and others. He has served as a methodological and biostatistical consultant on various projects for clinician scientists, basic scientists, and government agencies and currently serves as an educational editorial board member of International Journal of Epidemiology and a Methodological Editor at Fertility and Sterility. Webpage.

Ling-Jun Li, PhD, MD,Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
ORCID
Research interests: lifecourse research on women’s health, early screening and re-classification of gestational diabetes mellitus in singleton and twin pregnancies
Dr. Li’s research interest focuses on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept, which highlights the profound impact of in utero and early childhood environmental exposures on individual and generational health. Her work investigates the relationship between antenatal maternal complications and intergenerational health outcomes, aiming to identify early, adjustable factors that influence health across generations in Asian contexts. Such discoveries could lead to lifelong disease prevention strategies, aiding policymakers in crafting approaches to improve population health from the earliest life stages. This research has a profound impact on health and disease prevention strategies across generations.
Furthermore, Dr. Li's research program focuses on the transgenerational health consequences of maternal obesity and diabetes, utilizing a life course approach. The integration of advanced technology into healthcare is transforming antenatal and postpartum care, providing innovative solutions to enhance maternal health during and after pregnancy. Through her research, Dr. Li has employed cutting-edge technologies such as retinal imaging, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), and machine learning to develop earlier and more accurate predictive models for conditions like gestational diabetes mellitus, abnormal glucose metabolism postpartum, metabolic syndrome, and fetal growth issues. Webpage

 

Mengmeng Li, MD, MSPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Reproductive medicine, in-vitro fertilization, environmental exposure and child health, neurodevelopmental disorder, adolescent gender norm, adolescent mental health
Dr. Mengmeng Li is a Research Associate in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her interdisciplinary research activities cover reproductive medicine, maternal and child health, and adolescent health. In reproductive medicine, Dr. Li uses nationally representative samples to identify IVF procedure-related parameters that potentially inform better cycle and pregnancy outcomes. In parallel, she also serves as a senior data analyst on the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS), a multi-country prospective cohort study, implementing cross-sectional and longitudinal analytical methodologies to evaluate how gender norm perspectives evolve and shape sexual and reproductive health during adolescence. Her research scope has recently been expanded to maternal and child health, specifically understanding how environmental inputs in prenatal windows impact neurodevelopmental disorders during childhood from a multi-omics lens. Besides being a reviewer for multiple journals, Dr. Li has published a series of peer-reviewed articles as first and co-author in leading journals, including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fertility and Sterility, the American Journal of Public Health, and the Journal of Adolescent Health. Webpage.

Vijayachitra Modhukur, PhD, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Estonia
ORCID
Research interests: Epigenomics, Data visualisation, webtool development, Cancer Bioinformatics, Computational Biology
Dr. Vijayachitra Modhukur joined BMC Medicine in April 2025. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Tartu, Estonia, where her research focused on identifying DNA methylation-based biomarkers in human diseases. Dr. Modhukur brings expertise in computational epigenetics, reproductive omics, AI-driven precision medicine, and cancer research. She is driven by a vision to advance high-impact medical science and is passionate about translating cutting-edge discoveries into transformative healthcare solutions. Inspired by BMC Medicine’s legacy of publishing innovative research, she is committed to supporting rigorous and impactful studies that address major challenges in global healthcare. Webpage

Johannes Ott, PhD, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
ORCID
Research interests: Polycycstic ovary syndrome, amenorrhea, functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, laparoscopy, infertility, menopause, climacteric, ovarian stimulation, IVF, reproductive surgery, hysteroscopy, fallopian, fallopian tubes
Assoc.Prof. Dr. Johannes Ott, born in September 1980 in Vienna, Austria, currently is the interims chair of the Clinical Division of Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles with a main focus on polycystic ovary syndrome, fertility surgery, recurrent miscarriage, artificial reproduction, thyroid function and autoimmune thyroiditis. Webpage.

Alex Ridout, MBBS, BA, MRCOG, MD, King's College London, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Preterm birth, pre-eclampsia, global health, maternal mortality
Dr. Alex Ridout is an Obstetrics and Gynaecology doctor in London, at St Thomas’ Hospital and co-ordinators the NIHR Global Health Research Group CRIBS. CRIBS focuses on simple, scalable innovations to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. She is leading the CRADLE-5 trial, evaluating the effectiveness and national scale-up of a vital signs alert device and training package into routine maternity care. Her research interest in high-risk pregnancy spans high and low-income settings; her thesis looked at strategies to personalise prediction of spontaneous preterm birth (King’s Outstanding Thesis Award). Webpage.

Qing Sang, PhD, Fudan University, China
Research interests: Medical genetics, Mendelian diseases, Reproductive genetics, human infertility, medelian randomization
Dr. Qing Sang is currently working at Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 2013. His research interest is focused on medical genetics, Mendelian diseases, human infertility, reproductive genetics, especially for individual with oocyte or early embryo defects. He has published over 60 research articles in journals including N Engl J Med, Science, Sci Transl Med et al., He was also invited to write a review in Science summarizing the advances of genetic studies in human infertility. He is the reviewer of many SCI-indexed journals, and now is the editorial member of J Assist Reprod Genet. Webpage.

Natalie Suff, PhD, King's College London, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Pregnancy, preterm birth, immunology, reproductive health, animal models, infection
Dr. Natalie Suff is a clinical lecturer with a research interest in Preterm birth. She is a Wellcome Clinical Research Career development fellow looking into the mechanisms of infection and inflammation-related spontaneous preterm birth. She is an Obstetrics and Gynaecology doctor in London, with a specialist interest in maternal and fetal medicine. Webpage.

Shengzhi Sun, PhD, Boston University, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Environmental epidemiology; climate change and health; air pollution and health; built environment and health; cohort study; time-series study
Dr. Sun is currently a Research Scientist in Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public health. Prior to his current position, he completed two years of postdoctoral training at Brown University School of Public Health. He obtained a Ph.D. is in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Hong Kong (2017). His research focuses on climate change and health and, in particular maternal and child health. He applies sophisticated statistical approaches to large complex national data sets to inform public health. Webpage. 

Kilian Vomstein, MD, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Denmark
ORCID
Research interests: Infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, embryo implantation, endometriosis, endometrium, reproductive immunology, early pregnancy
Kilian Vomstein is a gynecologist at the Fertility Clinic, Dep. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre and at the Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Unit Copenhagen, Denmark. His research focuses on the immunology of the feto-maternal interface - especially NK-cells - and the interaction with the local microbiome in recurrent pregnancy loss and recurrent implantation failure. Webpage.

Jian Zhao, PhD, Southern University of Science and Technology, China
ORCID
Research interests: Early life determinants of endocrinology & metabolic disorders, Mendelian randomization, integrative analysis of multi-omics data, aetiological epidemiology of reproductive and perinatal outcomes, prospective cohort studies
Dr. Jian Zhao is currently an Assistant Professor at Southern University of Science and Technology, China and an Honorary Senior Research Associate at MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, the University of Bristol, UK. His research interests focus on investigating early life determinants of endocrinology & metabolic disorders (e.g., PCOS, NAFLD, T2D etc) in later life using state-of-the-art techniques including Mendelian randomization and multi-omics data integration analysis approach. He is also interested in computational medicine/ precision medicine research as to identify novel molecular biomarkers or therapeutic targets for adverse reproductive and perinatal outcomes leveraging human genetic data and advanced computational biology methods, in large-scale cohort studies such as UK Biobank and other collaborative birth cohorts. Dr. Zhao has published a series of peer-reviewed papers in leading medical/ statistical computing journals such as Journal of Hepatology, BMC Medicine, the Lancet Discovery Science - eBioMedicine, JCEM and Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine. He also serves as reviewers/ review editors for journals including Journal of Hepatology, BMC Medicine, Diabetes Care, International Journal of Epidemiology, Fertility and Sterility, Seminars in Liver Disease, Maternal and Child Health, Computers in Biology and Medicine, and Frontier in Endocrinology. Webpage.

Yeyi Zhu, PhD, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; University of California, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Pregnancy complications, gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, preterm birth, nutrition, epidemiology, obesity, children
Yeyi Zhu, PhD, is a Research Scientist II (equivalent to Associate Professor) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and adjunct faculty at Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Zhu's research interests are at the interface of disease etiology and prevention strategies in the arena of women's and children's health across the lifespan. She applies a life course approach to examine the developmental origins of cardiometabolic impairments of offspring exposed to nonoptimal intrauterine environment by integrating 'omics technologies, high-dimensional electronic health records, and "big data" analytics tools. Her research aims to inform upstream preventive strategies to interrupt the vicious intergenerational cycle of obesity and diabetes and its related comorbidities across the lifespan. Dr. Zhu's research is sponsored by grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Webpage. 

 

Oncology
 

Kilan Ashad-Bishop, PhD, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, USA
ORCID
Research interests: cancer biology, cancer disparities, social determinants of health, structural determinants of health
Dr. Kilan C. Ashad-Bishop (she/her) is a biomedical scientist and advocate for inclusion who has carved her niche at the intersection of science, health, and social change. She is a proud alumna of Morgan State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology, and the University of Miami, where she earned her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology. In her various professional capacities, Kilan works to improve the health and well-being of communities of color and expand opportunities for the next generation of innovators. Webpage.

Changjing Cai, Dr. med., National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders; Department of Oncology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University (CSU), China

ORCID
Research interests: Tumor microenvironment, Tumor metabolism, Cancer Immunotherapy, Molecular mechanism, Target therapy, Bioinformatics
Changjing Cai, M.D., Ph.D., is currently affiliated with the National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders and serves as a medical oncologist at Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, China. He has also undertaken academic training at the Yale Cancer Center, Yale University, in the United States. Dr. Cai’s research focuses on the precision diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors, with particular emphasis on gastrointestinal cancers. His work explores key aspects of the tumor microenvironment, cancer metabolism, and tumor immunology, integrating both basic and translational clinical research approaches. His findings have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including BMJ – British Medical Journal, The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Molecular Cancer, Hepatology, EBioMedicine, and Molecular Therapy, and etc. Webpage

Emilie Chalayer, Dr. med., PhD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Étienne, France
Research interests: extracellular vesicles, multiple myeloma, thrombosis
I am currently an Associate Professor at the University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, in France. I an a medical Doctor specialized in Clinical Hematology. My research activities and expertise are related to clinical research in the broad field of hematological malignancies, with a particular focus on multiple myeloma. My research interests also include thrombosis and bleeding in the field of malignancies. I completed my PhD in biology at my University and I was guest researcher at the Translational Biomarker Research Group, University of Geneva, in Switzerland in 2019 and at the Department of Biomedical Engineering & Physics and the Laboratory of Experimental Clinical Chemistry of the Amsterdam University Medical, in Netherlands in 2024 for 6 months. Webpage

Melvin L.K.Chua, MBBS, FRCR, PhD, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore
ORCID
Research interests: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, genomics, biomarkers, clinical trials
Prof. Chua is a Clinician-Scientist at the NCCS and Duke-NUS Medical School, and Principal Investigator of the Precision Radiotherapeutics and Oncology Programme, Division of Medical Sciences, supported by the NMRC Clinician-Scientist Award. He is also the Head of Department and Senior Consultant for Head and Neck and Thoracic Cancers, Division of Radiation Oncology, and Director of the Data and Computational Science Core at the NCCS. His research focuses on the development of Phase II-III clinical trials in nasopharyngeal (NPC) and prostate cancers. He also runs a laboratory that is involved in data science and omics analytics that help with therapeutic and biomarker discovery for these cancer types. He serves as Associate Professor (On Tenure) of Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Visiting Professor of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, China. His key accomplishments include: ASCO-CSCO International guidelines on the treatment of locoregionally-advanced NPC; Co-Lead investigator of the randomised controlled trial of induction gemcitabine-cisplatin in high-risk locoregionally-advanced NPC; Co-Lead investigator of the randomised controlled trial of consolidation radiotherapy in patients with metastatic NPC who manifest a good response to palliative chemotherapy. Currently, Dr Chua co-leads the Singapore NPC Large Collaborative Grant, where he leads a platform trial – RIBBON: tReatment Individualisation By eBv stratificatiOn in Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A multi-arm platform study – for locoregionally advanced NPC and recurrent-metastatic NPC. Dr Chua also received numerous honours such as SingHealth Excellence Distinguished Researcher Award (2021), Conquer Cancer Foundation ASCO Merit Award (2013, 2015, 2016), NMRC Clinician-Scientist Award (Investigator, 2017, 2021), Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists (2013), and Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore (FAMS, 2021). Webpage.

Narendranath Epperla, MD, MS, Huntsman Cancer Institute, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia, CAR T-cell therapy, bispecific antibodies, hematopoietic cell transplantation, stem cell transplantation, cellular therapies
Narendranath Epperla, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor in Clinical Medicine at The Ohio State University. After receiving his medical degree in India, Dr. Epperla came to the U.S. and completed Internal Medicine Residency at Marshfield Clinic where he also served as a Chief Resident. He obtained his master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Science and completed a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He was the recipient of the Donald J Schuenke Cancer Fellowship award for excellence in educational, clinical, and research activity.
Dr. Epperla is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and the American Association for Cancer Research. He has authored numerous peer reviewed publications, including journal articles, meeting abstracts, and book chapters. His research interests focus on conducting early phase clinical trials using novel drug combinations to treat patients with lymphoid malignancies as well as to identify possible biomarkers that can predict treatment response. He is also actively involved in the CIBMTR lymphoma and cellular therapy committees and has published several high-impact papers utilizing the registry. Webpage.

 

Mark Gormley, MSt; PhD, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
ORCID
Research interests: head and neck cancer, employing novel genetic epidemiology methods to better understand risk and prognosis in this disease.
I am a Consultant Senior Lecturer and Programme Director in Oral Surgery. Following specialty training via an NIHR academic clinical fellowship, I completed a Masters in Genomic Medicine at the University of Cambridge and a Wellcome GW4-Clinical Academic Training PhD fellowship at the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol.My research focuses on head and neck cancer, employing novel genetic epidemiology methods to better understand risk and prognosis in this disease. This work utilises large international datasets for head and neck cancer, including Head and Neck 5000 and HEADSpace, conducted within the Epidemiology and health services research group and Bristol Population Health Science Institute.As department lead for undergraduate Oral Surgery and Programme Director for the Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Oral Surgery, I have experience as both an academic and clinical supervisor and an active interest in dental education and pedagogy, ensuring teaching is based on the latest advances in practice.I have served as a member of the British Association of Oral Surgeons council and spent three years as a Dental Specialty Ambassador for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. I am currently the NIHR Regional Research Delivery Network Oral and Dental Specialty Lead for Southwest Central and a committee member for the Academy of Medical Sciences INSPIRE programme supporting medical, dental and veterinary undergraduate research. Webpage

Kirollos Hanna, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, FACCC, Minnesota Oncology, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Genitourinary cancers, B-Cell malignancies
Dr. Hanna is board certified by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties in Oncology Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy. He is currently the Director of Pharmacy at Minnesota Oncology and an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Hanna’s research interests are focused on B-cell malignancies and genitourinary cancers. He has published over a dozen peer-reviewed manuscripts in various journals including Pharmacotherapy, AJHP, Drugs, JOPP, AJMC and JHOP. Dr. Hanna is a recognized Fellow of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) and the Advanced Practitioner Society of Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) and a Board member of the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association (NCODA). 

Melissa Henry, PhD, McGill University, Canada
Research interests: Psycho-oncology, Oncology, Palliative care, Mental health, Physical symptom burden
Dr. Henry is an Associate Professor in the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology at McGill University. She is a FRQS Senior Clinician-Scientist at the Lady-Davis Institute for Medical Research. Her research program aims to better conceptualize early determinants of symptom burden in oncology, leading to the development and testing of interventions to improve the quality of life of cancer patients. Her work combines translational research with a major focus on advanced cancer and head and neck oncology, including investigating the intersection between physical symptom burden, quality of life, mental health, genetics, immunology, and the microbiome. She developed the FACT/MBIS McGill Body Image Concern Scale – Head and Neck, part of the internationally known FACT Measurement System. She was Co-Director of Axis 1 on optimizing quality of life and is currently the Director of the Equity and Access Axis of the FRQS-funded Quebec Research Group in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (RQSPAL), a group comprising of over 250 researchers, students, and staff across the province of Quebec, Canada. Dr. Henry has received funding from the Canadian Institute for Health Research, the Quebec Health Research Fund (FRSQ), Genzyme and Roche, and CRDF Global/NCI. She is on the executive of the board of the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) and has received the IPOS Noemi Fisman Award for Lifetime Clinical Excellence. She has served as a member of the Development Group for Cancer, World Health Organization (WHO) Rehabilitation Program on the development of the Package of Intervention for Rehabilitation (PIR) and a WHO Expert, GBCI Patient Navigation Working Group advisory committee reviewing the GBCI Derivative Technical Product on Patient Navigation, Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI), World Health Organization (WHO). Her international work with IPOS in official relations with WHO involves building capacity for psycho-oncology research, education, and clinical care in low-middle-income countries. Webpage. 

Kelly Hirko, PhD, MPH, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, USA
ORCID
Research interests: cancer, epidemiology, obesity, diet, disparities, rural, implementation science
I am a cancer epidemiologist, with a focus on understanding how lifestyle factors, such as diet, physical activity, and obesity influence cancer risk and survival. My research explores rural, socioeconomic, and racial/ethnic disparities and investigates social determinants of behavioral risk factors contributing to observed disparities. As a rural community-based researcher, my research is shifting toward translational work including using dissemination and implementation science approaches to effectively incorporate evidence-based interventions into underserved settings. Webpage. 

 

Jaidip Jagtap, PhD, Mayo Clinic Rochester, USA
ORCID
Research interests: biomedical engineering, lasers & optics, physics, and Radiology. Computer assisted quantification, Cancer, Translational medicine, Bioinformatics, Radiomics, Radiation oncology, Medical Imaging (MRI, CT, Ultrasound, Digital imaging), Nanoparticles
Dr. Jaidip Jagtap received his both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the University of Pune in 2008 and from IIT Kanpur, India in 2015, respectively. He has completed 5 years of postdoctoral work at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA in the Biomedical Engineering Department on developing an NIR-SWIR imaging tool to image and analyze the altered vascular/lymphatic functions in small animal models due to impact from tumor or irradiation. Also developed a nanoparticle mediated therapeutic tool for diagnostic and therapeutic study. Currently, Dr. Jagtap is a research staff in Radiology at Mayo Clinic Rochester, working with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning to develop models and assist radiologist in decision making. His study involved various clinical data (MRI, CT, ultrasound, histopathology) from the kidney, skin, nerves, etc. He is the author of over 40 scientific papers published in international peer-reviewed journals, 10 book chapters, and several congress proceedings. He has peer-reviewed 70+ articles for various international scientific journals and also given invited talks and oral presentations on various platforms. Webpage. 

Jianguang Ji, PhD, Lund University, Sweden
ORCID
Research interests: Cancer epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, colorectal cancer, stomach sancer, mendelian randomization
Dr. Jianguang Ji's research has a strong focus on the influence of genetic and environmental factors on chronic diseases, with a main focus on cancer incidence and mortality. By using data from nationwide registers and national and regional surveys, his research has shed new light on potential genetic and environmental factors associated with the development of various types of cancer. Results from his research studies can be found in highly ranked journals, such as The Lancet Oncology, J Clin Oncology, J National Cancer Inst, Gastroenterology, and Circulation, BMC Medicine, et al. Webpage.

Shengjun Ji, MD, Nanjing Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Radiation Oncology; Cancer Research; Molecular Biology; Neuroscience
Dr. Ji Shengjun has extensive research experience in the field of oncology and radiotherapy, with a particular focus on the following research directions: Research on precision models for radiotherapy evaluation of esophageal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on multi-omics. Key technological research to optimize the comprehensive management model of cervical cancer. Research on the mechanism of radiation-induced brain injury and clinical protection. Dr. Ji Shengjun won the 2020 "BEST OF ASTRO" award. He also serves as a peer reviewer for several medical.Webpage.

Christiana Kartsonaki, PhD, DPhil, University of Oxford, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Cancer, statistics, epidemiology, COVID-19, case-cohort studies, fine-mapping, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, proteomics
Christiana Kartsonaki is a Senior Statistician at the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU) in the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford (UK). She is working on the epidemiology of cancer and other diseases, as well as on related statistical methods. Her main interests include risk factors (including metabolic and lifestyle risk factors, infectious pathogens, and genetics), biomarkers, and risk prediction for cancer, and statistical methods motivated by biomedical applications. She is also involved in studies on cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, COVID-19, and cystic fibrosis. She has a degree in Mathematics, an MSc in Applied Statistics and a DPhil in Statistics. She has previously worked in the Department of Oncology of the University of Oxford and at the Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care of the University of Cambridge. Webpage.

Vivi Kasim, Chongqing University, China
ORCID
Research interests: tumorigenesis, cell cycle, tumor microenvironment, chromosomal instability, tumor drug resistance, cancer stem cell, tumor metabolic reprogramming.
Dr Kasim received her bachelor, master, and Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, University of Tokyo, Japan. She received post-doctoral training as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Tokyo, and worked as a Research Residence at National Cancer Center Research Institute, Japan. She is now a Full Professor at College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, China. Dr Kasim has published her scientific works in top-tier journals including Science Advances, Cancer Research, Advanced Science, Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, EBiomedicine, Oncogene, among others. She also has served as a peer-reviewer for top journals such as Nature Communications, Advanced Science, EMBO J, EBiomedicine, and Oncogene. Her research encompasses a broad field of oncology, including the molecular mechanism of tumor initiation and progression, discovery of new biomarkers for cancer diagnosis, as well as development of novel anti-tumor therapeutic strategy. She is especially interested in cell cycle regulation, mitosis error, chromosomal instability, tumor drug resistance, immunotherapy, cancer stem cell, and tumor metabolic reprogramming. Webpage

Yang Ke, PhD, MD, Dr. med., Dr. phil., Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Surgical oncology, Meta analysis, Hepatobiliary surgery, Signal transduction
Dr. Yang Ke holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery and serves as the Director of the Department of Surgical Education and Research at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China. He has undergone comprehensive training in clinical medicine (Bachelor of Medicine, Guangxi Medical University), surgical oncology (Doctor of Medicine, Guangxi Medical University), and surgery (Doctor of Philosophy, Kunming Medical University). Dr. Yang Ke possesses extensive expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, therapeutic laparoscopy, and liver transplantation. His primary research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. His research has been published in esteemed journals such as Frontiers in Immunology (2024), International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2021), International Journal of Cancer (2017), and Annals of Surgery (2013). Webpage. 

Victor Kok, MD, PhD, Asia University Taiwan, Taiwan
ORCID
Research interests: medical oncology, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, breast cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, GI cancer, gynecological cancers, urological cancers, solid tumor oncology, cancer epidemiology, association study, in silico research.
Dr. Victor C. Kok is the medical director of Kuang Tien General Hospital Cancer Center, Taichung, Taiwan. He obtained his MD and MMedSc degrees from Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan. Dr. Kok got his Ph.D. from the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Asia University Taiwan. Victor Kok trained as a medical oncologist at the Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, Taipei. He was board-certified in the Medical Oncology Certification Exam at the European Society for Medical Oncology and Taiwan Oncology Society. After that, he joined Asia University as an assistant professor. Dr. Kok graduated from the Harvard Medical School High-Impact Cancer Research-Cancer Biology and Therapeutics Program 2018/2019, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Kok has been awarded Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) and is now an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the Japan Cancer Association (JCA), the Taiwan Society of Internal Medicine, and the Taiwan Oncology Society. VC Kok's research interests include clinical cancer research, cancer epidemiology, cancer bioinformatics, medical oncology, internal medicine, palliative care, and clinical and population-based disease informatics. Webpage. 

Jakub Kucharz, MD, PhD, Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Poland
ORCID
Research interests: renal cell carcinoma, immunotherapy, urologic oncology, targeted therapy, genitourinary oncology, supportive care

Dr. Kucharz is associate professor of medical oncology at Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology. He graduated Jagiellonian University Medical College. Dr. Kucharz  is board-certified medical oncologist focused on genitourinary oncology and supportive care. He is General Secretary of the Executive Board of Polish Society of Clinical Oncology and secretary of the Supportive Care Section of Polish Society of Clinical Oncology. He is also the member of European Society for Clinical Oncology. Dr. Kucharz research interests are focused on prognostic and predictive factors for targeted therapies and immunotherapy, adverse events management and treatment of critically-ill germ cell tumor patients. He published over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is also an co-author of clinical practice guidelines (GU tumors) of Polish Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Kucharz serves as  peer reviewer for several medical journals. Webpage. 

Can Küçük, PhD, Dokuz Eylül University, Türkiye
ORCID
Research interests: Lymphoma, mutiple myeloma, hematological malignancies, cancer biology, oncology, molecular biology and genetics, genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics
Dr. Can Küçük earned his B.S. degree from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at METU. He completed his Ph.D. studies on oncology and cancer biology in 2012 at the UNMC. Having continued post-doctoral studies at UNMC and City of Hope Medical Center for two years, he returned back to Türkiye, and started working at the Department of Medical Biology in Dokuz Eylül University. Dr. Küçük has publications in prestigious journals such as Lancet Oncology, Blood, PNAS, and Clinical Cancer Research. One of his first author research articles published in Nature Communications was cited as the basic reference for classification of EATL by the WHO. At the international level, he has three awards from the American Society of Hematology (Abstract Achievement Award, Global Research Award, Supplement Award) as well as the International Young Scientist Award from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. At the national level, he earned TÜBA GEBİP and Science Academy BAGEP awards. The research group led by Dr. Küçük focuses on genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic aberrations causing lymphoid cancers to identify molecular biomarkers that can facilitate diagnosis, risk stratification, and disease monitoring of lymphoid cancers and to discover more effective therapeutic targets. Webpage.

Naveena AN Kumar, MBBS, MS, MCh, Manipal Academy of Higher education, India
ORCID
Research interests: Cancer Surgery, Cancer Biology, Translational Oncology, Minimally Invasive Surgical Oncology, Thoracic Oncology, Gastrointestinal and HPB Oncology, Peritoneal Surface Malignancies, Head and Neck Cancers, Breast and Gynaecological Cancers, Surgical Oncology Education and Training
Dr Naveena AN Kumar is Professor & Head, Lead Surgical Oncologist in Department of Surgical Oncology at Manipal Comprehensive cancer care centre, Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. He is the program director for MCh Surgical Oncology and supervisor for PhD program in the department of Surgical Oncology, KMC Manipal.
He earned his MBBS degree in 2008 from Father Muller Medical College, Mangalore followed by General Surgery training (MS) from JIPMER, Pondicherry in 2012. He did his Surgical Oncology training (MCh) from Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai in 2018. He has 55 publications and  served as reviewer for many reputed journals. He is an active member of the team involved in collaborative cancer research, which has received many major grants for basic cancer research projects. He is a part of 2 multicentric randomized controlled trials and many collaborative basic cancer research projects. His primary focus is on basic cancer research which affects long-term oncological outcomes. He is involved in education and training of young surgical oncologists. He runs his YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/@naveenakumaran2022/videos) for teaching and demonstration of many advanced surgical oncology procedures. Webpage.

Shuai Li, PhD, The University of Melbourne, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Genetic epidemiology, epigenetic epidemiology, twin research, family research, cancer risk prediction, breast cancer
Dr Shuai Li is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Melbourne. Dr Li is trained in medicine and epidemiology, with a Bachelor of Medicine degree and a Master of Science degree obtained in Peking University, and a PhD degree obtained in the University of Melbourne in 2018. From 2018 to 2020, he worked at the Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Cambridge University. Dr Li’s research interests include genetic and epigenetic epidemiology of cancers, twin and family research, and cancer risk modelling. Webpage. 

Suping Ling, PhD, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Diabetes, cancer, inequalities, electronic health records data
Suping has a medical background and completed her PhD in Cancer Epidemiology at Centre for Public health, Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland) in 2018. She then moved to the University of Leicester (Leicester Diabetes Centre and Department of Health Sciences) to do post-doctoral research using electronic health records data. In June 2021, she joined the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as Assistant Professor in Epidemiology within the Inequalities in Cancer Outcomes Network (ICON) group. Her research interests include diabetes, cancer, inequalities and use of routine data. Webpage.

Huai Liu, MD, Hunan Cancer Hospital and the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, China
ORCID
Research interests: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, radiotherapy
Dr. Huai Liu is an associate professor of radiation oncology at Hunan Cancer Hospital and the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine in Changsha, Hunan, China. In 2014, he earned his MD degree in Oncology from Sun Yat-sen University. Dr. Liu's research focus lies primarily in the realm of clinical and translational research, with a particular emphasis on nasopharyngeal carcinoma, lung cancer, and head and neck cancer. As a radiation oncologist, he also takes a keen interest in investigating the mechanisms and treatments of radiation-induced injuries, a crucial area for enhancing the effectiveness and safety of radiation therapy in cancer treatment. He has published his research findings in prestigious journals such as Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JCNI), and European Journal of Cancer (EJC). Webpage.

Tanimola Martins, PhD, University of Exeter, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Health inequity/inequality, cancer diagnosis in primary care, public health, stroke rehabilitation, racial/ethnic disparities
Tanimola is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow and Lecturer in Postgraduate Education at the University of Exeter Medical School. He has a background in Medical Rehabilitation and Public Health. His research aims to identify and quantify sociodemographic differences in primary care diagnosis of cancer, intending to formulate appropriate interventions to address such inequalities. Presently, Tanimola is collaborating with researchers from University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to investigate ethnic inequities in diagnosis and outcomes of symptomatic cancer. Webpage. 

Wei Nie, Dr. med, Shanghai Chest Hospital, China
ORCID
Research interests: NSCLC, SCLC, Immunotherapy, Chemotherapy, Targeted therapy, Biomarker, Radiomics, Genomics, Clinical trials, Cohort study, Lung Cancer,  Metabolomics, Pathomics, Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Wei Nie, is an Associate Professor, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital, at School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He received his medical degree from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Naval Medical University. Dr. Nie has specialized in thoracic tumors, lung cancer, and pleural tumors. Dr. Nie's main fields of interests included research in the genetics, radiomics, metabolomics, and pathomics of lung cancer, assessment of new biomarkers for tumor progression, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. He has authored more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Webpage. 

 

Hirak Patra, PhD, University College London, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Regenerative medicines, drug delivery, theranostics, biosensing
Dr. Hirak K Patra is among the next generation of scientist with translational focus cross-discipline interests. He is an Associate Professor of Nanomedicine and Regenerative Medicine at the Division of Surgery and Interventional Science at the University College London (UCL). The Patra Lab at UCL is exploring nanoscale science, technologies, and materials for advanced healthcare applications. Dr Patra has been awarded with MRC Career Development Award by the Medical Research Council UK and developing medicated artificial implants. He was a fellow (Jr, B1) at the Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge where he implemented his EU Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual European Fellowship developing nano tools combating drug resistance. Dr. Patra obtained his PhD with his thesis work on “Synthetic nanoforms as designer and explorer for cellular events” with several high rank publications and huge citations from University of Calcutta. He moved to the Applied Physics Division of Linköping University with prestigious Integrative Regenerative Medicine fellowship at Sweden. His research interests across the discipline attract attention of pioneer leading scientists and awarded with several ‘Young Scientist’ category globally. His personal dedication in the field and passion for the innovation together with his skills and experience enable him to publish 4 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty). Webpage.

Ramesh Pothuraju, PhD, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, India
ORCID
Research interests: Cancer, Cancer biology, Drug delivery, Cancer therapeutics, Colorectal cancer, gut microbiota, obesity, diabetes, dietary fiber, intestinal homeostasis
Dr. Ramesh Pothuraju, Ph.D. is currently working as Junior Faculty in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, USA. During initial years of postdoctoral training at UNMC, he studied the differential expression of mucins in pancreatic cancer (PC) as well as colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and developed genetically engineered mouse models for these cancers. Overall, his research interest is gastro-intestinal cancers, dietary fibers, obesity, diabetes, gut microbiota and intestinal homeostasis. Webpage. 

Joseph Rothwell, PhD, French Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), France
europepmc.org/authors/0000-0002-6927-3360
Research interests: Cancer epidemiology, cancer prevention, cancer risk factors, cohort studies, metabolomics, biomarkers, omics technologies, nutrition
Joseph is a molecular epidemiologist and researcher at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). His main focus is understanding cancer, metabolic diseases and their risk factors, such as nutrition and environmental exposures, in the context of primary prevention. He aims to bring together traditional epidemiology and molecular techniques such as -omics technologies to aid the understanding of these diseases and contribute to their prevention.
Initially trained as a laboratory bioanalyst, he spent the early part of his career operating and maintaining instruments such as mass spectrometers for studies of various design on nutrition and health. This led him to specialise in metabolomics and these days he has traded the laboratory bench for epidemiological data analyses and programming. His recent research pertains to colorectal and breast cancer, with large metabolomics datasets frequently put to use. He is a proponent of reproducible research and a fan of open-source code and version control. Webpage.

Alessandro Russo, MD, PhD, Medical Oncology Unit, A.O. Papardo, Italy
ORCID
Research interests: NSCLC; liquid biopsy; immunotherapy; SCLC
Dr. Russo is a board-certified medical oncologist with interest in thoracic malignancies, immunotherapy and liquid biopsies.
Dr. Russo degreed as M.D. at the University of Messina (Italy) and there he completed his residency in Medical Oncology. He had his PhD in 2019 in Medical and Surgical Biotechnologies at the University of Messina, with a research project on the role of liquid biopsies as predictive biomarkers to immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). During his PhD, Dr. Russo joined as Visiting Researcher the Division of Thoracic Medical Oncology and Early Clinical Trials at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (Baltimore, USA). From February 2020 he joined the Medical Oncology Unit of the A.O. Papardo (Messina, Italy) as medical oncologist, with focus on thoracic malignancies. He is member of several national and international scientific societies, including the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), the Italian Association of Thoracic Oncology (AIOT), the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). Dr. Russo took part to the Executive Board of the Sicilian Section of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) for the years 2015-2019. Dr. Russo is co-author of more than 70 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, three book chapters and he is actively involved in clinical research in advanced NSCLC. Webpage. 

Charupong Saengboonmee, MD, PhD, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
ORCID
Research interests: molecular mechanisms of associations between metabolic disorders and cancers; hepatobiliary tract cancer, lung cancer, cancer metabolism, drug discovery from natural products, nanomedicine
Charupong Saengboonmee, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University. He received the MD with First Class Honors and PhD in Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Khon Kaen University, where he continues working as a PI of Metabolic Disorder and Cancer Metabolism Research Group. His research interests are focused on the molecular mechanisms of the association between metabolic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus and obesity, and the carcinogenesis and progression of cancers. Beginning with investigating hepatobiliary tract cancers, his research is now extended to study other cancers, e.g., other gastrointestinal and lung cancers. His research group also focuses on cancer metabolism and drug discovery research using natural products, drug repurposing, and nanomedicine development. Webpage

 

Leili Shahriyari, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States
ORCID
Research interests: mathematical and computational oncology; data-driven mathematical modelling; bioinformatics; computational Biology

Dr. Shahriyari received her PhD in Mathematics and MSE in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is affiliated with the UMass Cancer Center. Her team focuses on developing computational models and frameworks to better understand tumorigenesis and optimize cancer treatments, ultimately aiming to develop personalized therapies. They have developed several data-driven mechanistic and machine learning models, as well as informatics tools for cancer research. They always look for collaborations across disciplines to enrich and foster interdisciplinary teamwork, tackle new challenges, and explore innovative solutions. Website

Mingwang Shen, PhD, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Infectious diseases modelling, health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, artificial intelligence, genetic screening and gene therapy, cancer screening
Mingwang Shen earned PhD degree in Applied Mathematics (2017) and now is an Associate Professor in Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health from Xi’an Jiaotong University. He is vice Director of China-Australia Joint Research Center for Infectious Diseases and Key Laboratory for Disease Prevention and Control and Health Promotion of Shaanxi Province. His research interests include infectious diseases modelling, artificial intelligence in medicine, health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, genetic screening and gene therapy, etc. He has published original research articles in reputable peer-reviewed journals, including The Innovation, BMC Medicine, Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific, Journal of the International AIDS Society, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, AIDS, etc. Webpage

Navid Sobhani, MSc, PhD, MD Anderson UT Cancer Center, United States of America
ORCID
Research interests: targeted therapy, cancer discovery, drug discovery, molecular oncology, single-cell RNA sequencing, PDAC, immunotherapy
Dr. Sobhani is a passionate scientist dedicated to research in the field of PDAC, personalized therapies, immunotherapy, and the tumor microenvironment. Dr. Sobhani studied in the United Kingdom, where he earned his BSc/MSc degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Aberdeen and his Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Cambridge. He obtained his PhD degree in 2020 in Molecular Biomedicine Biotechnologies at the University of Trieste (Italy), with a research project on the predictive role of the immune systems’ response to therapy: and survival in patients with solid tumors. Parallel to his PhD, Dr. Sobhani joined the Department of Epidemiology and Population Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas), as a predoctoral research associate. He joined Baylor College of Medicine as a postdoctoral research associate, focusing on the discovery and validation of novel immunotherapies in collaboration with AI/ML model companies.
During his postdoc, he has been a member of several national and international scientific societies, including the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) building up a great network through presentions at several international conferences. Dr. Sobhani has joined as a research scientist at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, Texas) since 2023 and is involved in cutting-edge research. Dr. Sobhani is a co-author of more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, and three book chapters and he aims to move PDAC cancer research forward. Webpage

 

Tingshi Su, MD,PhD, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, China
Research interests: radiotherapy
Dr. Su is a distinguished expert with an MD and PhD, specializing in clinical and translational research in radiation therapy and radioprotection. With extensive experience in advanced radiotherapy techniques, including proton therapy, Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT), and Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Dr. Su has made significant contributions to radiation oncology. His research is highly regarded, with many of his academic papers being cited in clinical guidelines, reflecting his influence on both the scientific community and clinical practice. Webpage

 

Ryota Tamura, MD, PhD, Keio University School of Medicine, Japan
ORCID
Research interests: Malignant glioma; Neurofibromatosis; iPS cells; Neural stem cell; Gene therapy; Immunotherapy; Skull base surgery
My clinical and research interests focus on neurosurgical approaches to patients with brain tumors. I am dedicated to management of patients with malignant glioma, sporadic schwannoma and neurofibromatosis type 2. As a neurosurgeon in Keio University, Japan, I specialize in skull base techniques for posterior cranial fossa tumors.
Active areas of research include stem cell-based gene therapy using iPS cells for the treatment of the central nervous system tumors and regenerative medicine. I serve as a PI leading multiple preclinical studies evaluating the treatment effect of genome-edited iPS cells utilizing orthotopic immunocompetent glioblastoma models and plan to transcribe into novel gene therapy clinical studies with glioblastoma patients. Another area of my research involves the role of anti-angiogenic immunotherapy for the treatment of unresectable benign tumors including neurofibromatosis type 2. Webpage.

Tong Tong, MD, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, China
Research interest: artificial intelligence in oncology imaging
Dr. Tong Tong received her PhD in imaging and nuclear medicine from Fudan University in 2008. Dr. Tong Tong is currently a chief physician of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, and a doctoral supervisor at Fudan University. She is currently a member of the Magnetic Resonance Group Committee of the Chinese Society of Radiology, and a member of the Standing Committee of Oncology Imaging Committee of the China Anti-Cancer Association. Her current research is in the accurate clinical staging of rectal cancer, and the prediction and evaluation of neoadjuvant therapy efficacy of rectal cancer using functional magnetic resonance.

Xiaomin Wan, PhD, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, China
ORCID
Research interests: health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, cancer screening, public health, infectious diseases modelling, decision science, outcomes research
Xiaomin Wan earned his PhD in Pharmacoeconomics from Central South University in 2016 and currently serves as an Associate Chief Pharmacist at The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, and as the Deputy Director of the Pharmacoeconomics Research Center at the Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, Central South University. His research interests focus on Health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, cancer screening, public health, infectious diseases modelling, decision science, outcomes research, et al. He has published in reputable peer-reviewed journals, such as JAMA Oncology, BMC Medicine, and PharmacoEconomics. He also serves on the editorial boards of journals such as PharmacoEconomics and BMC Public Health, and has contributed as an ad-hoc reviewer for prestigious journals like The Lancet Healthy Longevity, The Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific. Webpage

Zhangding Wang, PhD, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, China

ORCID
Research interests: Cholangiocarcinoma, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Tumor metabolism, Epigenetic regulation, Tumor immunity
Zhangding Wang, He obtained his PhD from Nanjing Medical University in 2019. Now, He is an Associate Researcher and Principal Investigator (PI) at the Tumor Immunology Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. His research focuses on tumor metabolism (metabolites) and epigenetic regulation. He has published multiple papers as first author or corresponding author in prestigious journals such as Gut, Cancer Research, Advanced Science, Theranostics, Journal of Advanced Research, Cell Proliferation, Cell Death & Disease, and RNA Biology. He has led six research projects, including: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) General Program and Youth Program; Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation Youth Program; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation General Program; Nanjing Health Outstanding Youth Fund; Anhui Health Commission Research Project. Webpage

 

Dr. Liang Wang, Beijing Tongren Hospital, China
Research interests: Hematologic malignancies
My research focuses on translational studies in the development of new therapies and biomarkers for prognosis and prediction of therapy, and mechanism investigation of treatment resistance in lymphoma, especially in T cell lymphoma.

Zheng Wang, MD, PhD, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China
ORCID
Research interests: Oncology, Cancer Metastasis, Tumor Microenvironment, Breast Cancer, Precision Medicine
Dr. Zheng Wang is an expert in the field of precision medicine in oncology who performs practice in the precise diagnosis and personalized treatment of breast cancer. Dr. Wang is passionate about clinical and translational researches to make innovations in cancer therapies and to improve the overall survival and life quality of cancer patients.Dr. Wang's significant contributions to the field of precision medicine in oncology include: 1. Clinical patterns and predictive models of cancer metastasis, 2. Novel targets and interventional strategies for cancer metastasis, 3. Immune microenvironment and metabolic reprogramming for modulating cancer metastasis.Dr. Wang's work has resulted in 48 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Not only has Dr. Wang successfully completed and published the results of his research in some of the most discerning, high-impact journals in the field, but his discoveries have also gone on to influence his peers. That is, Dr. Wang's publications have been cited by researchers in at least 40 countries.Dr. Wang serves on the editorial board of BMC Medicine, Cancer Drug Resistance, Discover Immunity, Frontiers in Oncology, Frontiers for Young Minds and Artificial Intelligence in Cancer. Dr. Wang has conducted more than 100 reviews for 41 journals that include eBioMedicine, Frontiers in Immunology, Cell Death & Disease, Advanced Therapeutics, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Aging, Molecular Carcinogenesis, and World Journal of Gastroenterology. Webpage 

Shuanzeng Wei, MD, PhD, Fox Chase Cancer Center, USA
ORCID
Research interests: translational research on sarcoma, genitourinary cancer, head and neck cancer
Assoc.Prof. Dr. Shuanzeng Wei currently is an attending pathologist and medical director of Clinical Genomics lab at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, USA. He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed articles with a main focus on molecular and pathological alterations in Sarcoma, Genitourinary Cancer, Head & Neck Cancer. Webpage

 

San-Gang Wu, PhD, MD, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, China
Research interests: head and neck cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, breast cancer, radiotherapy, immunotherapy
San-Gang Wu received his bachelor’s degree from the Clinical Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University in 2004, his master’s degree from the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in 2011, and his doctoral degree from Xiamen University in 2019.  He is currently an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Xiamen University. His clinical and research focus includes Head and neck cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and breast cancer including related procedures such as radiotherapy and immunotherapy. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers as a first author or corresponding author with an h-index of 32. Webpage

 

Qi-Dong Xia, MD, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
ORCID
Research interests: prostate cancer, synthetic biology, irreversible electroporation, extracellular vesicles, PROTAC, multi-omics study
Dr. Qi-Dong Xia is currently working in Department of Urology, Tongji Hosipital, Tongji College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He received his MD. and completed his post-doctoral training at Tongji Hospital, too. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Qi-Dong Xia is mainly dedicated to applied basic research in the field of prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, including early diagnosis, surgical treatment, focal therapy, innovative drug therapy, etc. The overall aim of his research is to improve outcomes for patients with prostate cancer. Webpage

Zhongyi Yang, MD, PhD, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, China
ORCID
Research interests: Nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, theranostics, PET/CT, PET/MR, radionuclide therapy
Zhongyi Yang received his MD Degree in Nuclear Medicine at Shanghai Jiaotong University and PhD Degree at Fudan University, China. He is currently an Associate Professor and physician in the department of Nuclear Medicine of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. He is also the Youth Council Member of China Anti-Cancer Association and the Youth Committee of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr Yang was awarded the First Prize of National PET/CT interpretation contest in 2009 and Yang Fujia Nuclear Technology Youth Talent Nomination Award (Shanghai Nuclear Society) in 2022. He was also selected for the 2018 Shanghai Young Medical Talent Training Funding Program (Medical Imaging). He has presided multiple projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China and published more than 40 articles (first or corresponding author) in SCI-indexed journals. He is also the editorial board member of oncoradiology and corresponding editorial board member of International Journal of Radiation Medicine and Nuclear Medicine, Chinese Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Webpage.

 

Haomin Yang, PhD, Fujian Medical University,China 
ORCID
Research interests: women's health, breast cancer, endocrine disorders, mental disorders, genetics, proteomics, epidemiology and public health.
Haomin is an Associate Professor in Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Fujian Medical University, where his research focuses on women’s health and cancer epidemiology. He has investigated different diseases before and after breast cancer diagnosis, including hyperthyroidism, preeclampsia, mental disorders, heart diseases and other side effects of cancer treatment. He has further improved the analytical framework for disease trajectory analysis and used it to reveal the disease trajectories among women, breast cancer patients and depression patients. His recent research interest is to evaluate the association between immune-neuroendocrine system and the risk of breast cancer using multi-omics approach.

Wonbeak Yoo, PhD, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, South Korea
ORCID
Research interests: Cancer metabolism, Molecular pathways, Therapeutic targets, Biomarker, Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), preclinical experimental models, Diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, Cancer biology and metabolism, Cancer prevention and therapeutics, Chronic liver disease, Drug resistance, Tumor microenvironment
Dr. Yoo is a researcher at Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB). After the attainment of a doctoral degree (College of Medicine, Korea University), he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the department of molecular and cellular oncology (MD Anderson Cancer Center at Houston, USA). After a postdoctoral course, he worked as a researcher at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and KRIBB. Dr. Yoo's research interests include (1) causes, mechanisms, and experimental therapy for cancers; (2) development of diagnostic and prognostic markers for cancer; (3) liver disease progressing from MASLD to HCC; (4) microbiome and application for human health; (5) establishment and utilization of preclinical experimental in vitro and in vivo models; (6) bioinformatic validation for biomarkers. Overall, his interests are on the translational cancer research, bridging the basic research with novel therapeutic approaches development. Webpage.

Pei Yu, PhD, Monash University, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Environmental health, cancer epidemiology
Commencing in November 2022, Pei serves as an early career research fellow in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. She successfully completed her PhD training within the same school from August 2019 to February 2023. Demonstrating expertise in cancer epidemiology and environmental health research, CI-Yu has emerged as a promising young researcher, evidenced by her notable publications and awards. She holds a Monash SPHPM Early Career Postdoctoral Fellowship for the period 2023-2024. Webpage.

Evan Yi-Wen Yu, PhD, Southeast University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Systems Epidemiology; Extracellular Vesicles; Multi-Omics; Complex Diseases; Precision Medicine
Dr. Evan Y.W. Yu got his PhD from Maastricht University, the Netherlands, and is currently working at Southeast University, Nanjing, China. His primary expertise and research interests lie in deciphering perturbations in complex human phenotypes by integrating cutting-edge technologies with molecular dynamics. With a strong background in systems epidemiology, his work focuses on leveraging extracellular vesicles (EVs) to investigate nanoscale alterations in the regulation of internal homeostasis, aiming to develop innovative strategies for disease prevention and intervention. WebPage

Shi-Tong Yu, Dr. med.; PhD, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, China
Research interests: thyroid cancer, Cancer Biology, head and neck cancer, signal transduction, molecular cancer biology
Dr. Yu received his MD/PhD Degree in Otolaryngology at Sun Yat-sen University, China. He is the surgeon of General Surgery of Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, China. His research interests comprised clinical and basic researches of the management of thyroid cancer. He has published more than 50 articles in SCI-indexed journals and serves as guest editor and editorial board member of many scientific journals. Webpage

 

Dake Zhang, MD, PhD, Beihang, China
ORCID
Research interests: Tumor genomics, medical genomics, translational genomics, computational biology, biomarkers, DNA methylation, HBV infection, liver cancer
In 2009, Dr. Zhang obtained a doctoral degree in Genetics from the Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The same year saw him commence his position as an assistant professor in the Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, which too is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The year 2014 witnessed him embark on a one-year sojourn to the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics of the Baylor College of Medicine as a visiting scholar. In 2016, he became a member of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Two years later, in 2018, he obtained a senior genetic counselor certification from the Chinese Board of Genetic Counseling. Finally, in the year 2020, he commenced his faculty position at Beihang University. His current research endeavors revolve around delving into and assessing the deleterious impact of tissue damage or affected cell populations, as it pertains to the emergence, progression, and mitigation of ailments. His research agenda will be centered on two critical areas: firstly, investigating the unique methylation changes and epigenetic remodeling patterns in tissues affected by diseases; secondly, tracking the ancestral origins of free DNA present in peripheral blood by analyzing their genomic features. Webpage.

Wen Zhang, PhD, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, China
ORCID
Research interests: Biotherapy, Immunotherapy, Liquid biopsy, Tumor microenvironment, Biomarkers, Metastasis, Cancer stem cell
I am a Research Associate in the Department of Immunology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. I am trained in Bioengineering, with a Bachelor degree obtained in China Agricultural University, and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology obtained in the Beijing Normal University in 2018. My research focuses on cancer biotherapy and immunotherapy, especially the application of oncolytic viruses. Similarly, I am also interested in the influence of the tumor microenvironment on tumor therapy. In addition, part of my work has focused on liquid biopsy, especially clinical applications of circulating tumor cells. Webpage.

Yi Zhang, PhD, Euler Technology, China
ORCID
Research interests: Bioinformatics, statistics, aging, cancer, preeclampsia, cell-free DNA, in-vitro diagnosis, epigenetics, DNA methylation
Yi Zhang received his BSc and PhD in Biological Sciences from School of Life Sciences, Peking University. Yi is interested in developing experimental and computational methods to study a range of important disease-related biological processes such as cancer, pregnancy, development, and aging. He develops assays to non-invasively detect and monitor diseases, such as preeclampsia and cancer, using epigenetic information from cell-free DNA. Yi is the CTO of Euler Technology in Beijing, China. Webpage.

 

Bin Zhao, PhD, Central South University, China
ORCID
Research interests: T cell development/differentiation, B cell development/differentiation, autoimmune diseases, T cell metabolism, B cell metabolism, nutrition, chronic disease prevention and control
Bin Zhao is a professor of the National key lab of Diabetes Immunology (the Ministry of Education), and National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. Bin Zhao obtained his Ph.D. from Karolinska Institutet and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania and the National Institutes of Health. As first author/co-corresponding author, he has published in top-tier journals, including Nature Immunol, Circulation, Trends Immunol, PNAS, etc. His lab focuses on 1. T &B cell development, differentiation and autoimmune diseases. 2. Nutrition, Metabolism, chronic disease prevention and control. Webpage.

Jun Zhong, PhD, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA
ORCID
Research interests: Cancer genetic epidemiology, computational oncology, cancer multi-omics, driver factors for tumorigenesis, pancreatic cancer, polygenic risk scores (PRS), comprehensive risk prediction, genome/transcriptome-wide association study (GWAS/TWAS), translational genomics, artificial intelligence.
Jun Zhong, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow specializing in Computational Oncology at the laboratory of translational genomics within the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US. His primary research areas include bioinformatics and tumor genetics/genomics, focusing on (1) developing pancreatic cancer risk prediction models (using polygenic risk scores (PRS) and non-genetic factors), (2) genetic susceptibilities through extensive multi-omics approaches (e.g., genome and transcriptome-wide association studies (GWAS/TWAS)), and (3) exploring tumorigenesis drivers in accessible chromatin regions and cis-regulatory elements. Dr. Zhong's academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and a staff scientist experience from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute. He has contributed to many high-quality publications, with 8 as the first/co-first or co-corresponding author in prestigious journals such as Nucleic Acid Research, JNCI, American Journal of Human Genetics, The Innovation, and Trends in Genetics. Notably, Dr. Zhong spearheaded a significant collaborative TWAS, identifying 14 novel genes linked to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. This work received considerable recognition, including an editorial highlight in the JNCI. His accolades include the NIH DCEG Intramural Research Award (IRA), two NIH Fellows Awards for Research Excellence, and a Summer Research Mentor Award. Webpage.

Jian Gou Zhou, MD, PhD, Zunyi Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: EBM, Precision Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Immunotherapy, Biomarkers, bioinformatics
Jian-Guo Web MD, Dr. rer. biol. hum (Ph.D.) is a oncologist at Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University. His research focuses on how to identify the predictive and prognostic biomarkers for cancer patients with ICI and RT. He is an Associate Editor of Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment (TCRT), Frontiers in Oncology and Frontiers in Immunology; Section Editor of Cancer Control; Academic Editor of Pain Research and Management, Disease Markers, Medicine®, and a guest editor of Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology. He also served as a reviewer for more than 40 international Journals, e.g. JITC, Oncoimmunology, Gynecologic Oncology, IJC, et al. He got Merit Award in ESMO Asia (2018, 2019), KSMO Young Investigator Award (2020), CSCO 35 under 35 (2019), and received lots of oral presentations in ESMO Asia, EANO. Webpage.

 

Wenzhuo Zhuang, MD, PhD, Soochow University, China
Research interests: Multiple myeloma, Lymphoma
Wenzhuo Zhuang is a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Medical College of Soochow University.
Her research focuses on the pathogenesis and drug resistance mechanisms of multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
She has authored significant findings as the corresponding author in esteemed journals, including Blood, Clinical Cancer Research, Oncogene, Stem Cells, and The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Webpage.

 

Pediatrics
 

Qihong Deng, PhD, Zhengzhou University School of Public Health, China
ORCID
Research interests: Early life exposure, Pediatrics and children health, Global warming, Air pollution, Healthy cities, Environmental epidemiology.
Dr Qihong Deng is a chair professor in Zhengzhou University School of Public Health and vice president for the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ). He has mainly focused on the health risk of air pollution and global warming, with the objectives to design comfortable and healthy buildings/cities. He is now associate editors for the International Journal of Environmental Health Research (Taylor & Francis), Frontiers in Public Health/Frontiers in Pediatrics, and Thermal Science and Engineering Progress (Elsevier), and editorial board members for several international journals, such as Environment International (Elsevier), BMC Medicine, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health (Elsevier), Annals of Epidemiology (Elsevier), Building and Environment (Elsevier), Indoor Air (Wiley), Energy and Buildings (Elsevier), Environmental Toxicology (Wiley), Journal of Thermal Biology (Elsevier), Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (Springer), and Journal of Asthma (Taylor & Francis). Dr Deng received several awards, such as National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation (2005) and New Century Excellent Talents in Universities of China (2005). He is now the Fellows of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ), New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS), and International Society of the Built Environment (ISBE). He has published more than 150 papers in international journals (more than 60 during the past five years) and has been selected as the Most Cited Chinese Researchers since 2015 (Elsevier). His recent research on the role of prenatal exposure to indoor/outdoor air pollution in the late development of childhood allergic diseases has been highly cited by some world-leading professors and journals, some articles have been the Editor's Choice and Most Cited articles in international journals. His findings provide a new public health control strategy for the prevention or control of the rapid increase of childhood allergic diseases in the world, and have been incorporated into several international consensus, guidelines, and policies. Webpage.

Jianrong He, DPhil, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, China
ORCID
Research interests: Birth cohort, epidemiology, early-life exposure, maternal nutrition, gestational complications, birth outcomes, childhood obesity and cardio-metabolic health
Dr. He is an epidemiologist and obtained his DPhil degree from the University of Oxford. He currently serves as the Director of the Division of Birth Cohort Study at the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center. His research areas primarily focus on maternal and child health. Dr. He is actively involved in several large-scale cohort studies, including the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study and the International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium. Utilizing data from these prospective cohorts, Dr. He has a specific interest in investigating the impact of early-life exposures on pregnancy complications (e.g., gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders), birth outcomes (e.g., fetal growth and preterm birth), and child health (e.g., obesity, cardiometabolic health and cancer). Webpage

Niina Kolehmainen, PhD, Newcastle University, UK
ORCID
Research interests: child health, complex interventions, behaviour, paediatric, non-pharmacological, mixed methods, population health, applied health, allied health, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing
Dr Niina Kolehmainen is an allied health population scientist leading research into childhood health behaviours, their impact on health and well-being, and non-pharmacological innovations (NPIs) that support early-life health behaviours. Niina's particular focus is on children at the highest risk of ill health due to long-term conditions and disadvantage. Niina's research integrates behaviour science, applied health sciences, and clinical approaches to push the boundaries of current knowledge and thinking around child health, and to inform practice, policy and commissioning. Niina also leads the Reproduction, Development and Child Health Theme for the Newcastle University Faculty of Medical Sciences. This is a collaboration of around 40 academics across the Faculty, from biosciences to clinical and translational medicine to population health, with a mission to maximise life-course health and wellbeing for all through research into early-life events and interventions. As an Academy of Medical Sciences FLIER, Niina has a particular interest in interdisciplinary, cross-sector research that operates across traditional disciplinary boundaries and integrates diversity of views and expertise. Webpage.

Mish Shoykhet, MD, PhD, Children's National Hospital, United States
ORCID
Research interests: critical illness, critical care, pediatric critical care, cardiac arrest, brain injury, neurotrauma, neurophysiology, thalamus-cortex interactions, resuscitation, systems neuroscience, cerebral circuits and function
Dr. Shoykhet is a pediatric intensivist and a neuroscientist with a research focus on cardiac arrest and brain injury. He is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics the George Washington University School of Medicine, an Attending Physician and Research Director in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) at the Children’s National Hospital, and an NIH-funded Principal Investigator in the Center for Neuroscience at the Children’s National Research Institute. Dr. Shoykhet conducts basic science research on mechanisms of brain injury and recovery after pediatric cardiac arrest, and clinical research on pediatric critical illness.Webpage.

 

Primary Care
 

Bhautesh Jani, PhD, University of Glasgow, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Multimorbidity; Primary care
I lead a data science programme of work within which focuses on risk assessment and multimorbidity in clinical general practice. As a practicing GP, I have noticed that the patients I see often have multiple chronic diseases and complex health presentations consequently. My research programme focuses on application of data science approaches to provide solutions for better management of these complex health presentations and problems. I intend to use modern data science approaches to transform the understanding of relationships between multimorbidity (multiple chronic diseases) and a range of clinical outcomes (mortality, vascular outcomes, cancer outcomes and hospitalisation), and how individual patient factors (such as socio-economic status and frailty) influences these relationships. This new acquired knowledge has the potential to make the risk stratification of patients with chronic diseases more precise, which in turn can improve the chronic disease management programme in primary care. Webpage.

 

Psychiatry
 

Sven Alfonsson, PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Research interests: Psychiatry, Clinical education and training,  juvenile criminality.
Sven Alfonsson has worked as a clinical psychologist since 2007 and received a doctoral degree in 2014 in the area of Clinical psychology. He is currently working as a psychologist and researcher at the Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm City Council. His current research focuses on psychotherapy outcomes, clinical supervision and psychotherapist training. He is also engaged in research on interventions for juvenile criminality and youths in locked care. Webpage.

 

Getinet Ayano, PhD, Curtin University, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Mental health, child and adolscent psychiatry, intergenerational transmission of mental health, substance use, comorbid mental and physical disorders, crime, severe mental disorders, mental health interventions, risk and protective factors for mental health, crime and mental health among homeless people.
Getinet is a highly accomplished mental health professional and epidemiologist with a profound impact on the field. With a focus on mental health, suicide, physical health, and substance use issues, he has authored over 120 peer-reviewed articles, 12 abstracts, 5 reports, and a book. His research has been cited over 16,881 times on Google Scholar, underlining its substantial influence. Notably, he holds an impressive h-index of 38 and an h10x-index of 82, reflecting the enduring significance of his work. His contributions have earned him international recognition, particularly in the epidemiology of mental disorders and linked data analyses, making him a prominent figure in the global effort to address mental health and related public health challenges. Webpage.

Ji Chen, PhD, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Psychiatry, Machine Learning, Psychosis, Computational Psychiatry, fMRI, Insomnia, Mood Disorder Comorbidity, brain network, neuroimaging, big data, striatum
Dr. Ji Chen is an associate professor at the Center for Brain Health and Brain Technology, Global Institute of Future Technology & Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He is also affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, and completed his Ph.D. research in the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Germany. Dr. Chen’s research is mainly in the area of computational psychiatry and neuroimaging. His research interests include psychiatric machine learning, big data, dimensions of psychopathology, functional MRI, schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, as well as insomnia and mood disorder comorbidity. He devotes to combining data-driven approaches with theory-driven modeling on the basis of cognitive and clinical neuroscience, aiming at advancing the understanding of neurobiology and nosology underlying mental illness. Webpage.

 

Lingxiao Chen, PhD, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Pain, Musculoskeletal disorders, Clinical prediction model, Causal inference from observational data, Heterogeneity of treatment effects, Network meta-analysis.
Dr. Lingxiao Chen is a postdoctoral research fellow at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, China. He has a medical background in Orthopaedics and earned his PhD from the University of Sydney, Australia. His research interests focus on pain and musculoskeletal disorders, with a particular emphasis on the personalized management of low back pain. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications, which include papers in NEJM, BMJ, JAMA Network Open, EClinicalMedicine, and BMC Medicine. He is currently an Editorial Board Member for BMC Medicine, BMC Public Health and Scientific Reports, and serves as the Statistical Editor for BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. Webpage

 

Shanquan Chen, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Psychiatry, Mental health, Dementia, Cognitive disorder, mild cognitive impairment, health service utilization, social support, quality of life
My current research focuses on psychiatry and geriatrics. Both are interpreted broadly to include well-being related to mental health and cognitive/ageing health, rather than only diseases meeting diagnostic criteria. In a clinical view, I am especially focusing on the diagnosis, prognosis, and medicine management of mild cognitive disorders and dementia. In the public health and global health view, I also focus on social support and health service utilization, as well as corresponding equity, for people with cognitive disorders.
My research methods include analysis of cross-sectional or longitudinal survey data or electronic clinical records, causal inferences, structural equation modelling, policy/intervention simulation, machine learning, mixed qualitative and quantitative observational studies, economic evaluation, and systematic reviews. My research is inherently multi-disciplinary and involves strong links with epidemiology, statistics, health economics, public health, global health, mental health, and ageing health. 

Runsen Chen, PhD, Tsinghua University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Psychiatry, mental health, suicide, self harm, mood disorder, LGBT
Dr Runsen Chen is currently an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator of Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, China. Dr Chen obtained his doctoral degree at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford in 2020. His main research interested are psychiatric epidemiology, psychopathology and psychological interventions, with focuses on mood disorders, self-harm and suicide, and gender dysphoria in youth people. He also has particular interest in LGBTQ+ mental health. Webpage. 

Fanglin Guan, PhD, MD, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
Research interests: Genetics, Transcriptomics, Non-coding RNA, Multi-omics, Bioinformatics, Machine learning, Deep learning, Biomarkers, Psychiatric disorders, Substance use disorder, Neuroinflammation, Brain-gut axis; Multi-omics integration, Molecular mechanisms, Neural circuit, Neurotransmitters, Synaptic plasticity
Prof. Fanglin Guan, PhD, is a distinguished researcher at Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, China. His innovative research program integrates multi-omics data analysis with experimental validation to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of neuropsychiatric diseases. His research methodology employs cutting-edge bioinformatics and computational biology techniques to generate hypotheses, which are then rigorously tested and verified through experimental neuroscience approaches. This comprehensive strategy has led to significant advancements in our understanding of complex neuropsychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on schizophrenia. After obtaining his PhD from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2012, Prof. Guan honed his expertise in genomics and bioinformatics during his postdoctoral training at Washington University in Saint Louis. His rapid ascent in academia culminated in his appointment as Professor in 2022. Prof. Guan has led multiple high-profile research projects, yielding publications in prestigious journals within the neuroscience and psychiatry domains and serving on the editorial boards of several respected journals and frequently reviews for major publications in psychiatry and neuroscience. Webpage.

Philipp Homan, MD, PhD, University of Zurich, Switzerland
ORCID
Research interests: schizophrenia; psychosis; relapse; computational psychiatry; dopamine; striatum; treatment effect heterogeneity; treatment resistance; clozapine; magnetic stimulation; cognitive network; fMRI
I'm a clinician scientist at the Psychiatric University Hospital and the Neuroscience Center Zurich. My research is focused on understanding clinical and neurobiological variability in individuals with psychotic disorders. To this end, I employ behavioral modelling and multimodal imaging, ideally in the context of clinical trials. Webpage.

 

Jianbo Lai, MD, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China
ORCID
Research interests: Affective disorders, neuroinflammation, brain-gut axis; psychiatric rehabilitation, non-suicidal self-injury, traumatic brain injury, bipolar depression
Dr. Lai is a young clinical psychiatrist and attending physician working at the Department of Psychiatry, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. He gained the M.D. degree in Psychiatry and Mental Health from Zhejiang University School of Medicine. He is also employed as a master supervisor and distinguished fellow in Zhejiang University School of Medicine. He was honored as one of the Elsevier 2022 Most Cited Chinese Researchers in the field of Clinical Medicine. His research interests include elucidating the role of neuroimmunology and brain-gut regulation in the development of affective disorders. He also devotes to promote psychiatric rehabilitation among young population with severe mood disorders or other psychiatric conditions with social disability. Webpage.

 

Jun Li, PhD, Peking University Sixth Hospital, Mental Health Institution, Beijing, China
ORCID
Research interests: molecular genetics of psychiatric disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, animal models of psychiatry, molecular and neural circuit mechanisms.
Jun Li received his bachelor's degrees in Medicine and Psychology, and Ph.D. in Psychiatry from Peking University. His main research focuses on the molecular genetics and neurobiological mechanisms of psychiatric disorders, especially the role of susceptible genes in neurodevelopment, synaptic transmission, and disease-related behaviors. His work is to develop potential intervention strategies and molecular targets for treatment. Webpage.

 

Ming Li, PhD, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
ORCID
Research interests: psychiatric disorders, psychiatric genetics, brain molecular mechanisms, iPSC, animal models of psychiatry, psychiatry GWAS
I have been working on psychiatric disorders using combined approaches of genetics, brain imaging, molecular biology, gene editing, animal model, as well as neuroscience. The current research interest of our team is to elucidate the roles of risk genes identified via GWAS and candidate gene studies in the etiology and development of mental illnesses. Specifically, we integrate RNA-sequencing resources in human brains, and perform follow-up extensive experimental exploration using methods of molecular biology, gene editing, iPS cell biology, protein characterization and animal behavior tests. Webpage.

 

Fadi Maalouf, MD, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Research interests: Child mental health
Dr. Fadi Maalouf is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry at the American University of Beirut.  Dr. Maalouf also holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Maalouf is trained in General Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital. Dr. Maalouf is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. 
Dr. Maalouf’s research interest is in the areas of epidemiology of childhood psychiatric disorders and specifically emotional disorders and in school-based youth mental health interventions that aim at bridging the treatment gap in this population. Dr. Maalouf has received several grants and awards from prestigious organizations such as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and the Harvard Medical School Center for Global Health Delivery. He is an elected member of the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and has more recently received the Shoman Foundation Arab Researcher Award. Webpage.

 

Julian Mutz, PhD, King's College London, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Epidemiology, Frailty, Ageing, Depression, Bipolar disorder, Brain stimulation, aging, psychiatric genetics, biobank
Dr Julian Mutz is a post-doctoral research associate at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King’s College London. He completed his undergraduate training in Psychology (BSc) at the University of Groningen and University College London. He earned a postgraduate degree in Affective Disorders (MSc) from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London and is a graduate of the International Master in Affective Neuroscience (MSc) of Maastricht University. Dr Mutz obtained a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from King’s College London where he explored predictors of health and ageing in the UK Biobank study. Prior to that he worked as a research assistant in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Imperial College London. He is the author of 26 scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals, including in the BMJ, BMC Medicine, the British Journal of Psychiatry and the International Journal of Epidemiology. He has served as an ad-hoc reviewer for 28 peer-reviewed journals across multiple disciplines. Dr Mutz’s research interests include population health, the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders, frailty and biological markers of ageing, and evidence synthesis studies of brain stimulation treatments for depression and bipolar disorder. Webpage.

Hugo Senra, PhD, University of Aveiro, Portugal and University of Essex, UK
ORCID
Research interests: Adult depression, anxiety, stress, eating disorders, interplay between physical and mental health (long-term medical conditions), vision
I am researcher in mental health and data science based at the University of Aveiro (Portugal). My main areas of expertise and interest include long-term medical conditions (interplay between physical and mental health), adult mental health (depression, anxiety, eating disorders), randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies, meta-analysis, and statistical modelling. I am also an honorary lecturer in clinical psychology, for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, at the School of Health and Social Care of the University of Essex (U.K.). Webpage.

Daisy Singla, PhD, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Canada
ORCID
Research interests: Perinatal mental health, global mental health, common mental disorders, clinical trials, mechanisms and mediators
Dr. Daisy Singla is a clinical psychologist by training, a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Singla’s research focuses on increasing access to evidence-based psychological treatments targeting depression, anxiety and trauma worldwide.  She has collaborated with global mental health leaders and local NGOs in rural Uganda, Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan. She now brings these innovative and evidence-based lessons to the United States and Canada. She has over 65 peer-reviewed international publications and has been recognized internationally by the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, among others. Dr. Singla aspires to increase access to evidence-based psychological treatments to enrich the lives of all women, their children and their families. Website

 

Qing Shen, PhD, Tongji University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Psychiatric disorder, mental illness, somatic comorbidity, maternal health, cohort study, observational study, epidemiology, public health
After completing her PhD studies in epidemiology at Karolinska Insituttet, Sweden, Dr. Shen is currently a research fellow at the Tongji University Institute for Advanced Study, and a Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Mental Health Research in Tongji University School of Medicine, located in Shanghai, China. Dr. Shen has been working on the interdisciplinary epidemiological research of mental illness and somatic diseases (incl. cardiovascular disease, cognitive dysfunction, tumors, immunity and inflammation, neurodegenerative disease, etc.), assessing the risk factors and development of diseases, as well as exploring the interaction and potential mechanisms from the social, genetic and environmental perspectives. Dr. Shen has rich experience in the integration and processing of complex medical data, and has published several original research papers in journals, e.g., British Medical Journal, JAMA Psychiatry, Nature Communications, Lancet Regional Health-Europe, etc. She also served as a peer reviewer for many medical journals. 

 

Yuanyuan Wang, PhD, South China Normal University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Adolescent mood disorders, mental health in vulnerable populations, including depression, anxiety, social anxiety, self-harm, suicide in vulnerable groups, and mental health issues in sexual and gender minority populations.
Dr Yuanyuan Wang is a Professor in the School of Psychology at South China Normal University. She is a Chartered Psychologist at the British Psychological Society. Dr Wang is an Editorial Board Member for several SCI/SSCI journals. She has published more than 130 SSCI/SCI articles. Her main research area includes mood disorders and mental health studies, emphasizing improving the mental well-being and quality of life for vulnerable populations. Webpage

 

Zhu Chen, MD, PhD, University of Science and Technology of China, China
ORCID
Research interests: Pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases especially rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, cell-based therapy, interactions between immune cells, bone and metabolic system
Dr. Zhu Chen obtained his MD degree at the university of Erlangen-Nuremberg under the supervision of Prof. Aline Bozec and Prof. Georg Schett. He finished his postdoc training in Hospital of Special Surgery at New York. He is currently director and Chief Physician at the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China. Dr Chen's major research work focus on deciphering the role of novel B cell subsets in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, the effect of anti-inflammatory cytokines in arthritis, as well as translational research in the immune metabolism. In the past years, he has received fundings from National Natural Science Foundation of China and published more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Communications, Nature reviews Rheumatology, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Webpage.

 

Kanon Jatuworapruk, MD, PhD, Thammasat University, Thailand
ORCID
Research interests: Rheumatology, Arthritis, Gout, Autoimmune diseases, Immunology, Epidemiology, Prediction model, Diagnostic test, Retrospective cohort study
Kanon Jatuworapruk is a rheumatologist based in Thailand. He is passionate about providing care for people living with inflammatory joint diseases and autoimmune disorders. His research focuses on the epidemiology, risk factors and impact of crystal-associated arthritis, particularly gout. Dr Jatuworapruk hold a PhD from the University of Otago (Aotearoa/New Zealand), where he developed a prediction rule for inpatient gout flares. He is a member of G-CAN (Gout, Hyperuricemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network), APLAR crystal-induced arthritis special interest group, and the Thai Rheumatism Association. Webpage.

 

Alessandra Mortellaro, PhD, San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy
ORCID
Research interests: Inflammation, immunology, hematology, autoinflammatory diseases, and bone marrow failure syndromes
Dr Mortellaro received her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Open University (UK) and the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Italy), where she focused on the efficacy and safety of lentiviral vector-mediated gene therapy in the mouse model of ADA-SCID. She then pursued postdoctoral research at the Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy), investigating the role of dendritic cells in inflammatory responses triggered by pathogens and danger signals that alert the immune system. In 2011, she moved to Singapore to join the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN-A*ASTAR, Singapore), where she advanced to the role of Principal Investigator. Her research there centered on the innate mechanisms driving inflammation, with a particular focus on the NLRP3 inflammasome. In 2018, she returned to Italy to establish her research group at SR-Tiget. Currently, her work aims to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate inflammation, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets. She is particularly interested in understanding how inflammation impacts hematopoiesis, leading to severe bone marrow failure syndromes, such as deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 and aplastic anemia, to improve patient diagnosis and treatment strategies. Webpage.

 

Feng Pan, MD, PhD, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Australia
ORCID
Research interests: Chronic pain, bone density, inflammatory mechanisms, health outcomes, osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal, pain biomarkers, MSK imaging, MRI
Dr Feng Pan is a Senior Research Fellow at Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Australia. He completed a Masters of Medical Oncology in 2012, having completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 2009. His PhD was conferred in May 2017. Dr. Pan has been researching both epidemiology and clinical interventions to osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal pain. Much of his work has been on identifying biomechanical risk factors/mechanisms for musculoskeletal pain and osteoarthritis, identifying pain and osteoarthritis phenotypes and testing new therapeutic treatments. Dr Pan's research is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Arthritis Australia, etc. Dr. Pan’s work has been published in some of the highest impact and most prestigious journals, including Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, PAIN, Osteoarthritis Cartilage, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. He serves as a committee member of the International Association for the Study of Pain (Musculoskeletal Pain) and several national societies. He also severs on the editorial board of six peer-reviewed journals. Webpage.

Zhenke Wen, MD, PhD, Soochow University, China
Dr. Zhenke Wen completed his MD/PhD in Medical Immunology at Fudan University in 2013, followed by six years as a postdoctoral fellow and Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine. In September 2019, he joined the Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences (IBMS) at Soochow University as a professor and principal investigator. He currently holds the positions of Executive Dean of IBMS and Director of the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity. Dr. Wen’s research focuses on the adaptive immune response to nucleic acid antigens, particularly self-DNA, with the goal of uncovering novel mechanistic insights and therapeutic strategies for autoimmune diseases and cancer. His work involves comprehensive studies using clinical patient and control cohorts, humanized disease models, tissue organoids, and disease-associated cell-cell interaction systems. Specifically, he investigates: (1) the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the adaptive immune system's recognition and response to self-DNA; (2) the influence of self-DNA on T and B cell differentiation and function; and (3) the role of self-DNA in modifying regional tissue and organ immunity in human diseases. Webpage.


Xinghao Yu, PhD, Soochow University, China
ORCID
Research interests: causal inference, genetic pleiotropy, polygenic risk score, and genome-wide assoication study, Mendelian randomization, bone genetics, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis genetics
Xinghao Yu is currently working at the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Genomics Research at Soochow University. Most of his work lies in epidemiological studies using genetic statistical methods to identify biomarkers of musculoskeletal pain and osteoporosis. His main research methods are causal inference, genetic pleiotropy, polygenic risk score construction, and prognostic prediction models. Webpage.

 

Cun-You Zhao, PhD, Southern Medical University, China
ORCID
Research interests: Psychiatric disorder, DNA methylation, NcRNA
Professor Cunyou Zhao is Professor and Director of Department of Medical Genetics in Southern Medical University (Guangzhou, China). He obtained his Ph.D. from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 2008, and carried out postdoctoral studies at the Applied Genomic Center, HKUST before joining the Department of Medical Genetics, Southern Medical University in 2012.Webpage

Editorial Advisors

Autoimmunity

Sreeram Ramagopalan, PhD, University of Oxford, UK
 

Cardiovascular Medicine

Susan Jebb, PhD, University of Oxford, UK

Xinli Li, MD, PhD, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, China

Pascal Meier, MD, Dr. med., University College London, UK

Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy, Tufts University, USA

Aletta E Schutte, PhD, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia

Samantha Satori, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US
 

Emergency Medicine

Jerome Hoffman, MA, MD, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

Johan Undén, MD, PhD, Lund University, Sweden
 

Endocrinology and Metabolism

George Chrousos, MD, Athens University, Greece

Robert Eckel, MD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, USA

Deborah Lawlor, PhD, University of Bristol, UK

Naveed Sattar, PhD, Glasgow University, UK

Zilin Sun, PhD, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, China
 

Gastroenterology

Bob Anderson, MD, PhD, ImmusanT, USA

Marco Bruno, MD, PhD, Erasmus Medical Center, The Netherlands

Antoni Castells, MD, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain 
 

Geriatric Medicine

Ian Cameron, PhD, The University of Sydney, Australia

Juulia Jylhävä, PhD, Karolinska Institute, Sweden

Kenneth Rockwood, MD, Dalhousie University, Canada
 

Global, Public and Environmental Health

Luca Cegolon, MD, MSc, PhD, Local Health Unit N.2 "Marca Trevigiana", Public Health Department, Treviso, Italy

Lalit Dandona, MD, Indian Council of Medical Research, India

Michel Garenne, PhD, Institut Pasteur, Unité dEpidémiologie des Maladies Emergentes, France

Tim K. Mackey, PhD, University of California San Diego, USA

Robert William Snow, PhD, Kenya Medical Research Inistitute, Kenya

Tom Williams, MBSS, PhD, Imperial College London, UK
 

Health Economics, Quality and Reporting

Isabelle Boutron, PhD, Paris Descartes University, France 

Raymond Hutubessy, PhD, World Health Organization, Switzerland 

Mark Jit, PhD, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK 

David Moher, PhD, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canada

Ole Norheim, PhD, University of Bergen, Norway

Andrea Tricco, MSc, PhD, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St Michael's Hospital, Canada

Tom Walley, University of Liverpool, UK
 

Health Services Research

Fares Alahdab, MD, MSc, Mayo Clinic, USA

Josip Car, PhD, MD, MSc, Imperial College London, UK

Trish Greenhalgh, PhD, University of Oxford, UK

Frances Mair, MD, University of Glasgow, UK

Aziz Sheikh, MBSS, University of Edinburgh, UK 

Paul Wicks, PhD, PatientsLikeMe, USA
 

Hepatology

Matthew Akiyama, MD, MSc, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA

Annalisa Berzigotti, MD, PhD, University of Berne, Switzerland

Dimitrios Bogdanos, MD, MBA, MPA, LLM, PhD, King's College London, UK

Jordi Bruix, MD, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain

Arun Sanyal, MD, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, USA
 

Infectious Diseases

Ibrahim Abubakar, PhD, MBBS, MSc, DPH, University College London, UK

James Beeson, PhD, Burnet Institute, Australia

Carlota Dobaño, PhD, ISGlobal (Barcelona Institute for Global Health), Spain

Francis Drobniewski, MBBS, PhD, Queen Mary College, UK

John Edmunds, PhD, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK

Dale Fisher, MBSS, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Prasanna Jagannathan, MD, Stanford University, USA 

Chandy John, MD, Indiana University, USA

Marc Lipman, MD, University College London, UK

Kathryn Maitland, MBBS, Imperial College London, UK

Tim McHugh, PhD, University College London, UK

Faith Osier, MD, KEMRI Centre for Geographic Medicine Research-Coast, Kenya

Caroline Sabin, PhD, University College London, UK

Chris Whitty, DSc, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

Bridget Wills, FRCPCH, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam
 

Medical Education

Chris McManus, MD, University College London, UK

Medical Genomics

Dipender Gill, MD, PhD, Imperial College London, UK

Leslie Biesecker, MD, National Human Genome Research Institute, USA

Omry Koren, PhD, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
 

Medical Imaging

David Norris, Dr. Sci., PhD, Radboud University, Netherlands

Geoff Parker, PhD, University College London, UK
 

Medical Informatics and Mathematical Modelling

Gerardo Chowell, PhD, Georgia State University, USA

James Cimino, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
 

Medical Statistics

Munya Dimairo, University of Sheffield, UK 

Alan Girling, MA, University of Birmingham, UK

Darren Greenwood, PhD, University of Leeds, UK

Jaime Peters, PhD, University of Exeter, UK

Christopher Schmid, PhD, Brown University, USA

Guangxiang Zhang, PhD, University of Hawaii, USA
 

Nephrology

Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, University of Washington, USA

Bernard Jaar, MD, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, USA

David Wheeler, MD, MBSS, MBChB, Royal Free and University College Medical School, UK
 

Neurology

Paul Aisen, MD, University of California, San Diego, USA

Lea Grinberg, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, USA

Yichang Jia, PhD, Tsinghua University, China 

Jun-ichi Kira, MD, PhD, Kyushu University, Japan

Hugh Markus, DM, St George's University of London, UK

Erwin Stolz, Prof. Dr. med., Justus-Liebig-University, Germany

Bryan Young, Western University, Canada

Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, State University of NY, USA
 

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Louis Muglia, MD, PhD, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, USA
Camille Raynes-Greenow, PhD, University of Sydney, Australia
Stephen Tong, PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia
 

Oncology
Marc Gunter, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer, France

Mengfeng Li, MD, Sun Yat-sen University, China

Min Li, The University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, USA

Debu Tripathy, MD, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA
 

Ophthalmology

John Forrester, MD, University of Aberdeen, UK
 

Orthopedics

Michael Carmont, MD, Princess Royal Hospital, UK

Peter Giannoudis, MD, University of Leeds, UK

Nicola Maffulli, MD, MS, PhD, FRCP, FRCS(Orth), Queen Mary University of London, UK
 

Otolaryngology

Alfio Ferlito, MD, University of Udine, Italy
 

Psychiatry

Cathy Barr, PhD, University of Toronto, Canada

Michael Berk, PhD, Deakin University, Australia

Martin Brüne, MD, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

Peter de Jonge, PhD, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Eiko Fried, Dr. phil., Leiden University, Netherlands

Carlos Grilo, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine, USA

Martin Preisig, MD, MPH, CHUV, Switzerland

Florian Seemüller, MD, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany

Dan Stein, FRCPC, PhD, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Martin Teicher, MD, Harvard Medical School, USA
 

Regenerative and Personalized Medicine

Richard Schäfer, Dr. med., Goethe University Hospital, Germany
Zhiguo Chen, PhD, Capital Medical University, China
 

Respiratory Medicine

Rob Stockley, MD, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, UK

Jadwiga Wedzicha, MD, Imperial College London, UK

Scott Weiss, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA
 

Rheumatology

Bruce Cronstein, MD, NYU Medical Center, USA
Jasvinder Singh, MD, Birmingham VA Medical Center, USA
Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, Karolinska Institute, Sweden